


Capture

by TFPaddict



Category: Transformers Generation One
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BDSM, Bondage, Branding, Decepticons being Decepticons, Dubious Consent, Hate Sex, M/M, Mind Games, Size Kink, Sticky Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-13
Updated: 2014-07-26
Packaged: 2017-11-25 07:43:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/636662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TFPaddict/pseuds/TFPaddict
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Skyfire’s been captured by the Decepticons. Starscream wants revenge for Skyfire’s desertion to join the Autobots - and decides to have a little fun while he’s at it. (discontinued work)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Capture

**Author's Note:**

>   
>    
>  _(click[here](http://25.media.tumblr.com/7881b142cd532e6026552059898b9e16/tumblr_mgl34rSOy11roe2uuo1_r1_1280.png) for full size)._   
> 
> 
>   
>  Please note the warnings. I've tried to err on the side of caution there - I don't want anyone to be unpleasantly surprised.
> 
> This is intelligent, vindictive, manipulative Starscream who knows that Skyfire still has feelings for him and takes advantage of it. This is not-nice Starscream doing not-nice things to poor Skyfire. 
> 
> Many thanks to for [Fierceawakening](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Fierceawakening/pseuds/Fierceawakening) for the beta of this chapter.
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Skyfire winced as the two 'Cons dragged him into the room and shoved him to the floor roughly, taking up positions on either side of him.  Catching himself, he started to push himself upright when he heard the whine of one of his guard’s arm-mounted energon rifles powering up. He paused mid-movement, guessing it was likely being pointed at his head. His bound wings twitched as he considered his rapidly-diminishing options. 

"Well, well, well," a sparkbreakingly familiar voice purred, "I didn't expect _you_ to be the Autobot who was sniffing around the perimeter." 

Skyfire's head snapped up, optics wide. "S-Starscream?" 

The seeker was posed against a sturdy table less than a meter in front of Skyfire, one hand holding a glass of high-grade, and studying him with a slight smile. Skyfire gaped at him in surprise. He had expected, at best, that Starscream would be there when he was dragged before Megatron, not that he would be brought directly to Starscream. 

"You're lucky that _I_ was the one that noticed that little breach of security on the radar, or you'd likely be kneeling in front of Megatron now, along with whatever bot was on patrol in the area," he purred. 

"Dead End was on duty," Skywarp snorted from Skyfire’s right. "Little slacker was whining about having to pull a double to pay back Swindle, didn't even notice big 'Bot here." He nudged Skyfire with the barrel of his energon rifle. 

Skyfire had never liked Skywarp, and right at that nanoclick he would have happily ripped the purple seeker's energon rifle off his arm and used it on him, despite his leanings to pacifism. Skyfire glared at him and eased back until he was sitting upright, careful not to flex his wings; the high-tension energon wire currently wrapped around them would do substantial damage to the delicate metal if he moved wrong. 

Ignoring the larger mech’s glare, Skywarp continued gleefully. “Fortunately, flyboy here was distracted by trying to avoid Dead End, so he never noticed _us._ ” 

"Hmm," Starscream mused, ignoring the byplay and taking a sip from his glass. "This day just keeps getting better and better. Where’s Dead End?" 

"Out on the perimeter," Thundercracker supplied from Skyfire's left, with a swift glance at their prisoner. "I didn't think it wise to leave it undefended. There might be more 'Bots out there." 

"Oh, I think it’s safe enough," Starscream glanced at Skyfire with a slight smirk. "Even if he had backup, it was likely just a flyby..." He leaned forward, locking optics with Skyfire. His crimson optics narrowed. "Prime would never have authorized a raid on our base. Some of his _oh-so-precious_ Autobots might end up injured - or even _extinguished_." 

Skyfire's spark twisted at the mocking tone of Starscream's voice and he looked away, unable to meet the other mech's optics. 

He heard a low chuckle as Starscream straightened. "Go find out if you can locate whoever was with the _taxi_ here, and find out from Dead End if he knows where Swindle went. He's probably selling excess energon to that fool Sideswipe again. If we can catch him in the act of dealing with the enemy... well, let's just say that that type of information is _always_ useful when dealing with Swindle." 

Skywarp tapped Skyfire with the barrel of his arm-mounted rifle again. "What about him?" 

"He and I have... a few things to _discuss_." Starscream set down his glass with a faint click. 

Thundercracker shifted uncomfortably and glanced away from both his commander and the prisoner, while Skywarp smirked. " _Really_.” he glanced between Skyfire and Starscream. “Or should I say _still_? Well, I suppose there’s no accounting for taste....” 

_"Out,"_   Starscream's voice rose with annoyance, making Skyfire wince. 

The darker seeker shrugged, then powered down his energon rife and jauntily strolled out of the room, whistling. Thundercracker paused a moment longer, meeting Skyfire's gaze; Skyfire could have sworn that he saw a hint of pity in the dark blue seeker's red optics before he turned and followed Skywarp out of the room. 

As the door slid closed behind the other seekers, Skyfire nervously looked around the room to avoid having to focus on Starscream. To his surprise, it looked like a personal lounge, not the interrogation room he had been expecting. 

Besides the table, there were multiple other pieces of furniture, including a small sitting area with two full racks of datadisks and several datapads scattered about. One wall had an entertainment center, containing both Cybertronian music and holo-disks. A doorway opposite the entrance led into another room, and Skyfire’s optics skittered past it nervously when he saw a large berth facing a completely mirrored wall. 

The last wall of the lounge was one huge window. Shifting greenish-grey light shone through the water, highlighting an extensive coral reef while a school of fish and a lone shark swam past. 

It was disconcerting. If you substituted the skyline of Vos for the undersea panorama out the window, these quarters were similar to what he recalled from long ago and before the war. His gaze strayed from the window to the berth through the doorway.  

_Although, the last time I was in Starscream’s quarters, we hadn’t exactly been focused on the view...._  

"Fascinating, isn't it?" Skyfire whipped his head around to face Starscream, facialplates warm enough that he was sure they were glowing. Starscream was lounging against the table, propped on his elbows, legs extended out before him with ankles crossed. 

_He’s speaking of the view, not... anything else._ Skyfire took the opportunity to study Starscream as he let his embarrassment fade. 

Skyfire had always found the seeker commander the perfect union of speed, dexterity... and danger. He had been designed to lead a squadron of seekers, after all – and the seekers were meant to be as graceful and deadly in flight as a fired missile. Even after seeing countless megacycles of war, Starscream still kept himself perfectly maintained, his paint crisp and sharp, not a dent to be seen. 

And he was still the most beautiful – and dangerous – thing Skyfire had ever seen. 

_Oh, Primus. I’m still not over him._ He shuttered his optics. _I had thought...._  

"On all those planets we surveyed," Skyfire said, attempting to distract himself from his own thoughts, "You were never the one who saw much use in studying organic life." 

"I still don’t." Starscream flexed his wings idly. "It's far more trouble - and far _messier_ \- than it's worth. However, even the most base organism can be interesting, if only from a research standpoint." 

Skyfire smiled reluctantly. “Still thinking like a scientist. Some things never change.” His gaze slid to the Decepticon symbols emblazoned on each of Starscream's wings. He lost his smile as his gaze dropped to the floor and his own bound wrists and forearms. "And some things do." 

“Yes, they do.” Starscream’s voice was flat, and when Skyfire glanced back up, he saw Starscream staring at the Autobot symbols on Skyfire’s wings with narrowed optics. He shifted his gaze to meet the scientist’s and stood in one smooth movement. 

Pacing forward, he picked up a trailing end of the energon wire that Skyfire was bound with and ran it through his fingers. “This is interesting....” he murmured, studying the big mech through narrowed optics. “Energon wire instead of cuffs.” 

Skyfire shifted uncomfortably under the Decepticon’s gaze. “Skywarp said that it was more of a deterrent to transforming than plain cuffs,” he muttered, feeling a bit unsettled with the other mech so close – especially given Skywarp’s insinuations.  

“Hmm. And stasis cuffs – well, they would have been hard pressed to get you back here, even between the two of them, with you locked in stasis.” Starscream continued to run the end of the wire through his fingers, twining it around them idly. Skyfire couldn’t look away from the movement. 

Energon wire wasn’t really wire, not in the strictest sense of the word. It had been devised after the landing on Earth; it was actually more similar to what the humans called thread, but it was made out of processed energon somehow. The Autobot scientists, Skyfire among them, still hadn’t been able to figure out how the Decepticons created it, but it was obvious why. Light, compact, more energy-efficient than stasis cuffs – it was a good way to restrain a mech without stasis, because under enough pressure, it became unstable and would cut through metal like water. 

And Skyfire’s wings, wrists, and neck were wrapped with it, with the trailing end in Starscream’s hands. 

After an increasingly long moment of Starscream studying him, Skyfire fidgeted again. He tried not to let the extent of his discomfort show, but the whole situation was... not good, considering how he had parted with Starscream. 

“Mmmm.” The corner of Starscream’s mouth curved up in a smile and a pleased look came to his optics at Skyfire’s fidgeting. He flicked the trailing edge of the energon wire from his fingers and paced around to Skyfire’s left. "So, what shall I do with you, Skyfire?” he asked, his voice gleeful. 

Skyfire cycled air in a sigh of relief when Starscream dropped the energon wire. The smaller mech had always had a mercurial temper, and it had only gotten worse in the hundreds of cycles that Skyfire had been offline after the crash. He wasn’t sure what the seeker would do next. 

He jumped at an unexpected touch on his left wing and glanced over his shoulder at the smaller mech. 

“I could turn you over to Megatron,” Starscream mused aloud, continuing to stroll around Skyfire, trailing his hand up the larger mech's wing. “But he’d probably just kill you – and wouldn’t _that_ be a waste.” The seeker’s high voice was mocking. 

Trying to ignore the sensation of Starscream’s hand on his wing – and the realization of how good it felt there – Skyfire focused his optics on the ridiculously indulgent glass of highgrade abandoned on the table and concentrated on controlling his air intakes. 

“We don't have any troops being held as prisoners currently, so you won’t be useful as a hostage....” Starscream continued, punctuating the sentence by brushing his hand over the energon wire bindings on his wings. 

Skyfire cycled his air intakes heavily as Starscream continued caressing his wing. While seeker wings were extraordinarily sensitive in order to accurately sense and respond to shifting air currents as well as airborne danger, Skyfire’s wings were nearly as sensitive, despite being a civilian flyer. Starscream had always been fascinated by that quirk in the scientist’s sensornet. 

“So, we’re back to turning you over to Megatron. Unless...” his hand paused for a moment over the Autobot symbol near the tip of the left wing, “you were to offer...  _information..._  that might be useful to our cause.” Gliding around behind the larger mech, he curved his hand around the top edge of Skyfire's right wing. 

The Autobot blanked his optics, concentrating on controlling  - or at the very least, concealing - his reaction to the stroking. However, after a few klicks of silence except for the movements of the seeker’s hand over Skyfire’s right wing, it became increasingly obvious that not only was Starscream waiting for a response, but that he intended to toy with the scientist until he got one. 

“I-I don’t have anything to tell you.” Silently, Skyfire cursed his voice for betraying him with a stutter. 

"Oh? _Nothing?_ " Starscream said mockingly, "...are you _quite_ sure?" 

"I won’t–" despite himself, his voice hitched as Starscream caressed a particularly receptive sensor node, "won’t tell the Decepticons... anything...." Skyfire tilted his face toward the ceiling and shuddered, loathing himself for his reaction, as Starscream caressed all the way down the wing toward the base. 

“Oh, the _Decepticons,_ ” Starscream sneered, curling his hand over the base of the wing. “Perhaps, then, there’s something you’d like to tell _me?_ ” 

_This can’t be happening._ Skyfire could feel the heat of Starscream’s engines close by his right arm and cycled air through his intakes in a pant, shaking his head. “You _are_ a Decepticon,” he managed, “You’re not... not the same mech I knew. That Starscream is gone.” 

"Oh, no. I’m _right here,_ " Starscream hissed, faceplates almost touching Skyfire's right audio receptor. “You had _me_ \- and you chose _them_.” 

Skyfire bit his lip. Despite the harsh tone, Starscream’s fingers were massaging a sensor node at the base of his wing that was making it hard to think. Small tremors were running through his wings on an almost constant basis. 

"You _betrayed me_ , and then you blame _me_ for your defection?" His voice was rising in volume, and Skyfire winced. _“You run to my enemies the first time someone says something you don’t like, and blame_ me _for it?”_ he shrieked. 

As Starscream's voice rose, his fingers stilled and his grip tightened on Skyfire's wing, turning pleasure into pain as he began to dent the sensitive metal. "Star," Skyfire dared the nickname he had used eons ago, "You're... you’re hurting me." 

With a hiss of disgust, Starscream shoved away and strode to the table. Picking up his glass of highgrade, he tossed it back and stared out the window, dangling the now-empty glass from his fingertips. "I should kill you," he snarled. 

Skyfire remained silent. Despite the ache in the base of his wing, and the dread suffusing his systems, his frame was still radiating heat, and he had to fight to keep his cooling fans from kicking on. _I should be ashamed of myself. He’s not..._  He shifted his shoulders as much as he could, feeling the bindings pull, and looked away from his former lover. _He’s not who he used to be._  

He heard the click of Starscream’s heels as the seeker walked closer. A moment later, Skyfire felt Starscream’s hand under his chin, tilting his face up. With Skyfire bound and kneeling, the two were almost the same height, with Starscream being only slightly taller. 

Red optics locked with blue through the screen of Skyfire’s visor. “Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you,” Starscream said softly as he held the Autobot’s jaw, thumb caressing under his chin. 

“I-I...” Skyfire shivered. Despite himself, his cooling fans kicked on with a low roar, and he felt a flush of shame. The Decepticon commander’s optics narrowed at the sound and he smirked. 

“Well, _well_. I think we both know what you _really_ want,” he purred. 

Skyfire tried to shake his head, only to have Starscream tighten his grip. 

“Of course, you haven’t _precisely_ given me a reason to spare you _just_ yet....” Starscream’s voice was smug as he traced Skyfire’s lips with his free hand. 

“N-no,” Skyfire shuttered his optics. “Just... if you’re going to kill me,” he whispered, “then just do it.” 

“Oh, but I’m enjoying myself _far_ too much to end it so...  _quickly_ ,” Starscream purred. Skyfire felt the other mech step forward and heard the seeker’s higher-pitched cooling fans over his own. 

It seemed that Skyfire couldn't get enough air through his intakes. He felt light-headed, like his processors were overheating, and warnings rolled across his visor’s HUD. 

“And you’re enjoying it too,” Starscream breathed from entirely too close. “You just don’t want to _admit_ it.” His fingers trailed down Skyfire’s neck, followed by his lips. “You never did. Always so...  _proper._ ” 

Skyfire cycled air in a heavy pant as he felt Starscream nip at his neck cables, working his way downward. He heard a whimper, and realized it was his own voice. 

Jerking away, he stared up at the seeker, trembling. More violent motion was constrained by his knowledge of exactly what the energon wire bindings would do if he forced them. 

A flash of irritation flickered across Starscream’s faceplates before his mouth curled up into a knowing smile. He took the final half-step to close the distance between them, pressing his frame against the larger mech’s, his wings flicking languidly behind him. He lowered his face to Skyfire’s. “If you keep pulling away, I might start to get offended,” he murmured against the other mech’s mouth before he claimed it. 

Any remaining semblance of rational thought vanished in a flash as Starscream’s glossa tangled with his own. Heat flashed through Skyfire’s frame, his cooling fans revving to full blast. With a moan, he leaned into the kiss, optics shuttered, as Starscream’s right hand slid to his wing and stroked the base. 

Skyfire groaned into Starscream’s mouth as the seeker caressed the servos at the base of his wing. His wings trembled as he tried to hold still due to the energon wire bindings. “Star....” He gasped. 

Starscream broke the kiss slowly, capturing Skyfire’s bottom lip between his denta for a moment, and regarded the shuttle with heavy optics. “I had forgotten how much you enjoy having your wings caressed,” he said, his voice brimming with satisfaction. “You _know_ that only _I_ could give you this,” he continued, the corner of his mouth curving upward in a smirk. “Those ground-bound ‘Bots have _no_ idea of what it feels like to have wings, and those infuriating Aerialbots have no idea of how to-” 

Skyfire gasped, losing the rest of Starscream’s sentence to audial static as his hand found a particularly sensitive nerve cluster. He arched backward, shaking with the need to hold his wings still, and heard Starscream’s high laugh. “You’re _mine,_ Sky. You always have been and _always will be_.” 

Skyfire barely registered the words as sensation and heat washed through his sensornet. Starscream had always had talented hands, and it had been so long.... “I-I... the b-bindings....” 

“Yesss,” Starscream sneered. “You don’t like being bound, do you?” Starscream’s free hand curved around the back of Skyfire’s helm, tilting it forward and back toward his own. “But _I_ like it,” he hissed as he met Skyfire’s blue optics. With a last caress to the sensor cluster at the base of the wing that left Skyfire shuddering, Starscream brought his hand to Skyfire’s broad chestplate, tracing the cockpit with one finger. “And _I’m_ the one you have to please.” 

A shiver of apprehension trailed down his backstruts at the gloating tone in Starscream’s voice. Struggling to clear the pleasure-induced fog from his processors, he tried to pull back again, only to be stopped by the tightening grip on the back of his helm. 

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Starscream hissed. He slid his hand up and caressed Skyfire’s faceplates with the trailing end of the energon wire he now held, never breaking optic contact. “After all, you don’t _really_ want to displease me again...  _do_ you?” 

Skyfire took a shuddering breath, attempting to cycle air to assist his roaring fans in cooling his large frame. The seeker just smirked, still stroking his face gently. “No,” Skyfire breathed, feeling lost. 

“ _Very_ good, Autobot. You’re learning.” Starscream’s optics flickered. “Retract your visor.” Skyfire hesitated, but as Starscream’s optics narrowed, he triggered the command that caused the battlevisor that protected the upper half of his face to retract. 

The seeker studied Skyfire’s exposed face, lips parting slightly, glossa touching his upper lip. Skyfire exhaled, focusing on the movement as static crackled across his own optics. He whimpered slightly. 

Starscream smirked in satisfaction at the sound. Skyfire dropped his head forward and swayed. His entire frame hummed and it was almost impossible to think, his processors fogged and slow. 

Wrapping the energon wire around his fist, Starscream tugged it taut, holding it like a leash as he leaned toward his captive. With his other hand, he stroked Skyfire’s face from the edge of his optics down to his jaw. “I’ve wanted you here and on your knees for a long time, traitor,” Starscream purred. 

Skyfire panted, staring into the red glow of the Decepticon’s optics, feeling the sharp heat that was the energon wire around his neck, wrists, and wings against the slower heat flushing through his systems. He shuttered his optics, focusing on the sensation. All it would take was one sharp movement.... 

He felt Starscream’s hand come to a rest around his throat cables and stiffened, processors so clouded that he wasn't sure if he hoped for freedom or.... 

Starscream stepped backward, and there was a sharp jerking movement as he pulled his hand away, followed by a hiss. Skyfire tensed, anticipating pain as the energon wire melted into his throat, but felt nothing. Opening his optics, he looked up at Starscream, who was shaking a few drops of molten wire from his fingertips. Following the motion, he stared blankly at the pool of molten metal on the floor that had been the coil of wire around his throat. 

The seeker walked through his field of vision, moving behind him. “What would you do if I freed you now?” He whispered, resting his hands on the big mech’s wings and slowly caressing to the tips. 

Skyfire arched his back, shuddering at the feather-light touch, unable to do more than whimper. 

“Would you leave me again?” he murmured against the Autobot’s shaking right wing. His glossa licked around the curve of the wing, and Skyfire cried out. 

With a chuckle, the Decepticon’s hands came to rest over the energon wire bindings near the tips of the wings. His fingers curled around the energon wire, and in one smooth movement he slipped the coil of wire off and flung it to the side to hit the wall with a hiss. Skyfire gasped as he was finally able to stretch his wings, bringing them forward and erect, instead of bound straight out from his back. 

Starscream smirked in appreciation at the sight. Circling Skyfire, he examined the big mech as if debating making a purchase. Stopping in front of the kneeling Autobot, he stepped in close and rested his hands on his shoulders. 

Skyfire panted, cycling air in a desperate attempt to cool his frame. Blue optics met red without the protective screen of the visor, and the scientist’s breath hitched at the possessiveness that he saw in the other mech’s gaze. The seeker’s hands slowly caressed down Skyfire’s arms and came to a rest over the bound wrists and forearms. 

“What _would_ you do, Sky?” Starscream asked as he stared into Skyfire’s optics, leaning close. The scientist groaned as their lips met and Starscream’s glossa twined with his. 

With one quick movement, Starscream ripped the energon wire from Skyfire’s wrists, flicking the molten metal across the room, but not before scorching both Skyfire’s forearms and his own hands. 

Skyfire jerked at the stinging pain, lurching to his feet and breaking contact with the seeker commander as he stumbled backward, suddenly free. 

He activated his weapon systems by pure reflex, the scorchmarks stinging as his right hand and forearm were finally able to transform and aim at the only enemy in the room, his battlevisor snapping back into place and its HUD scrolling with targeting information. His weapon arm shook as he stared at the other mech. 

“Well, well... a warrior after all, Skyfire?” Starscream's high-pitched laugh echoed in the room as he spread his arms. “You’re free, and I’ve sent my trine away, so it’s just you and me. Of course,” He paused coyly, lowering his arms and placing one hand on his hip, “you _are_ still in the heart of the Decepticon base, and I’m still _much_ more of a warrior than _you_ are.” He cocked his head, looking up at the bigger mech. “So, what now, _Autobot_?” he sneered. 

His optics slid slowly down the bigger mech’s frame, and he smirked, licking his lips. “I can see what your _frame_ wants, and it’s _definitely_ not to fight.” 

Beyond reason, Skyfire roared and charged, slamming Starscream up against the heavy table, left hand gripping an aileon tight enough to dent, right weapon arm aimed at the Decepticon commander’s head. Starscream shrieked at the impact, then writhed against the other’s frame. “Oh, _yesss,_ ” he hissed. He slid his hands up Skyfire’s hips and sides to touch the base of his wings, fingers stroking the sensor nodes. 

Skyfire gasped at the sensation, his hand tightening around Starscream’s wing. “You- you’re appalling,” he growled, flicking his wings in a futile attempt to try to shake off the other’s hold. “I don’t know what happened to you in the time I was offline, but you-” 

Starscream screeched in rage. “Nothing _happened_ to me, traitor! Nothing except I realized what a useless, weak slagging piece of-” He cut himself off and looked up at the Autobot, optics narrowing. “Oh, so _that’s_ your game!” He let go of the wings and reached upward, grasping Skyfire’s helm in both hands, pulling their faces close. 

“Don’t try to change the subject, _Autobot_.” He shifted his hips, eliciting a groan from Skyfire. “I know that you want me,” he crooned against the scientist’s lips. “Why else would you not fire?” 

A moan was torn from Skyfire’s vocalizer as their lips met. He traced Starscream’s wings with shaking hands, his integrated weapon subsuming back into his arm. He’d wanted this for so long, ever since he came back online and was denied the seeker’s attentions. 

It felt so good to have Starscream back in his arms again that he could almost forget that they were on different sides. His hands stroked over the Decepticon symbols proudly displayed on Starscream’s wings, and paused, fingers spreading to cover them. 

“We... we shouldn’t. I can’t....” 

“Oh, but I believe you _can,_ ” Starscream breathed. He pressed his wings into Skyfire’s large hands. Squirming against the table, he slid one leg up to Skyfire’s hip and pulled both hands down the bigger mech’s back, fingers digging sharply into transformation seams. “I _definitely_ think you can.” 

The Autobot gasped at the brief pain, and his hands clenched inadvertently on Starscream’s wings, causing the seeker to cry out sharply and arch his back. With a twist, Starscream wrapped both legs around Skyfire’s waist and pulled him closer. 

Skyfire groaned, feeling guilty at enjoying the way the other mech twisted under his hands, and a good dose of self-disgust for his reaction, but neither guilt nor self-disgust could change the fact that Starscream was right. 

_This is – it’s wrong. He needs help, not..._  Skyfire shuddered as Starscream moved suggestively under him, sending a flash of arousal through his sensornet.  _Primus help me._  

He felt a flare of self-loathing as his frame responded to the seeker’s movements, but neither guilt nor self-loathing stopped him from shifting his hips slightly to bring his spike to the entrance of the seeker’s valve. He panted as he struggled to move slowly enough to give the smaller mech time to adjust to the penetration. 

Starscream squirmed, impatient at the slow speed. He glared up at Skyfire and suddenly smirked. Gripping the base of the other mech’s wings, he used them as leverage to thrust himself all at once onto Skyfire’s spike. 

Skyfire cried out in guilty pleasure as the tight valve constricted around his spike, resisting the forced entry, and Starscream keened in mingled pain and pleasure. Skyfire stopped, trembling, afraid he had done real damage to the smaller mech. 

Starscream glared up at Skyfire through slitted optics, panting. “Don’t you _dare_ stop _now_ ,” he snarled. 

With a shudder, Skyfire obeyed, rolling his hips in skilled rhythm practiced to hit all of the sensitive nodes inside the seeker’s valve. Starscream moaned, throwing his head back and arching his back as much as he could with Skyfire pinning his wings. “Yesss,” he hissed. 

His valve constricted around Skyfire as he writhed and his fingers dug in along the other mech’s backstruts, drawing energon from the scratches. Skyfire’s rhythm grew ragged as overload warnings flashed across his still-lowered battlevisor, and he felt Starscream’s legs tighten around his waist, the smaller mech using the leverage to lift into thrusts. His hands shaking, the Autobot shifted his hands to the Decepticon’s hips to hold him in place. 

His wings now free, Starscream flared them as he shifted upward and wrapped his arms around the scientist’s neck, meeting Skyfire’s lips with his own. “Don’t even think about holding back,” Starscream panted into the other’s mouth. His hands scored a long line through Skyfire’s paint just between his wings. 

Unable to hold back even if he had wanted to, Skyfire pounded roughly into Starscream, heedless of anything but the sensation. On the rare occasion when they were in this position, he had gone almost painfully slow, making sure that Starscream’s frame had time to adjust. This was neither slow nor gentle, which, judging by Starscream’s shrieks, was just as his partner wanted. 

Static crackled across Skyfire’s optics, blinding him to all but his partner’s screams. Dimly, he heard Starscream shriek his overload as his valve constricted around him. Skyfire thrust one last time and cried out as his own overload blasted through his frame, flashing to every point, sparks dancing over his sensornet. 

He slumped forward, feeling his systems entering system overload reboot. The last thing he saw before reboot engaged was Starscream’s flickering red optics – and his gloating smile.


	2. Interludes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thundercracker expresses his displeasure at his trineleader's actions; Starscream has a proposal for Megatron; and Skyfire reflects.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same warnings as the first chapter, so read those, yada yada.
> 
> In addition: Implied exhibitionism and implied Megatron/Starscream.
> 
> Cybertronian measures of time (partially from tfwiki.net):  
> Joor = ~1 hour  
> Klick = ~1 minute  
> Solar cycle = 1 day  
> Stellar cycle = 1 year
> 
> Thank you to [Visambros](http://visambros.tumblr.com) for her beta work, and also for the great ideas she tossed at me. :-D
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Are you _sure_ there wasn’t any trace?”  Starscream reclined in his chair and watched the underwater scenery outside the large window in his quarters, not looking at the other two seekers.

“I’m telling you, there wasn’t anyone out there, Starscream!” Skywarp burst out angrily. He stalked over to the window, putting himself squarely in Starscream’s line of sight. “I don’t know _what_ Skyfire was doing, let alone why he was flying near enough to the coast to even _risk_ running into Dead End, which he practically did.” The purple and black mech faced his trineleader, crossing his arms and glaring. “We looked for joors and _didn’t find_ _anything_.”

“I didn’t _say_ you missed anything,” Starscream replied, setting down his cube of highgrade. His optics narrowed and his voice took a mocking tone. “I’m just considering… _possibilities_.”

Thundercracker shook his head in frustration at his bickering trinemates and leaned against the table. This had been going on for at least half a joor; Starscream hadn’t stopped sniping at Skywarp since they had returned. He was in a hell of a mood, and Thundercracker didn’t want anything to do with it.

He stared at the unusual design melted into the floor in front of the table, and his battleprocessor idly attempted to identify it while he waited for the other two seekers to stop arguing. Not null-ray damage; Starscream’s weapons disrupted systems, they didn’t melt metal. No scorchmarks, so probably not an energon rifle discharge, although it held some similarities….

His gaze snapped up and around the room, noting two other similar areas, one on the wall near the door, the other low on the back wall. Those patterns were a little looser, as if they’d traveled further before hitting the surface. The marks hadn’t been there the other day. For that matter… they hadn’t been there earlier today when they’d delivered Skyfire. His optics narrowed.

The room suddenly fell deadly quiet and he dismissed that train of thought for the moment as he glanced at his trinemates. Skywarp had moved to loom over their trineleader, hands clenched at his sides and wings flared. Starscream, by contrast, was still lounging in his chair, one thruster heel casually braced on the end table in front of him, datapad propped against his upraised knee. He was looking up at Skywarp, a small smirk on his lips.

He hadn’t bothered to move at Skywarp’s display, but the casual pose didn’t fool Thundercracker – he’d known the Decepticon commander far too long for that.

And it shouldn’t have fooled Skywarp either. He’d been around long enough he should have recognized one of Starscream’s games.

Thundercracker cycled his intakes in a heavy sigh and pushed away from the table. He strode forward, irritation making his engines rumble loud enough to make the others wince.

“Don’t we have _enough_ to worry about without sniping at each other?” He growled. He shoved Skywarp’s shoulder, and the other seeker stumbled backward a step, glaring. Thundercracker turned a scowl on Starscream. “You know that if there was anything to find, we would have found it.”

Starscream held his gaze for a long moment, but finally inclined his head in acknowledgement. “You have a point. You two _were_ trained by the best, after all.”

It was the closest Skywarp was going to get to an apology from Starscream. Thundercracker narrowed his optics at the purple mech, who snorted and looked away. “And you say _I_ have an ego,” Skywarp muttered.

Thundercracker shuttered his optics and prayed to Primus for endurance before slumping onto the couch next to Starscream’s chair. Fortunately for Thundercracker’s swiftly-vanishing patience, Starscream elected to ignore Skywarp’s comment.

“So, the question remains: why _was_ he flying around our perimeter, if not to drop off or pick someone up?” Starscream mused. One blue-painted finger tapped the datapad thoughtfully as he regarded the live video stream. “It couldn’t have been recon. Prime’s not stupid – Skyfire would be the _last_ choice for a recon mission. Especially considering our… history.”

Skywarp glared for a moment longer before sighing and sprawling on the couch next to Thundercracker. “Maybe _that’s_ why he was sniffing around.” The purple mech shrugged. “You.”

Starscream’s hand stilled.

Thundercracker looked at Skywarp in surprise; he hadn’t expected the other mech to have made that leap.

“What?” Skywarp asked defensively. He glanced at Starscream, then blinked and nervously turned to Thundercracker. “I’m not stupid, you know. He’s had a thing for Starscream since way back at the Iacon Science Academy.” He shifted uncomfortably. “You know, even before the expeditions.”

“When were _you_ ever on the Science Academy campus?” Thundercracker asked incredulously.

“He was probably tracking me as part of the seeker training on scouting. It was an assignment I’d set each of you, if you recall,” Starscream responded absently.

Thundercracker tensed. His leader’s voice held a malicious, gloating edge that Thundercracker had heard only a few times before, and the seeker was relieved that this time it didn’t seem to be directed at them.

The dark blue mech turned to look at Starscream. The air commander was staring down at his datapad with narrowed optics and a truly chilling smile, as if something had just occurred to him.

Or as if something was going perfectly as planned.

Thundercracker reset his vocalizer uncomfortably. “It’s not like he would have been flying around the perimeter just because he felt like it. That doesn’t make any sense. Skyfire’s not stupid.”

“No, he’s not.” Starscream tossed back the rest of his highgrade and crushed the cube in his hand. “And not quite as naïve as he used to be, either.” Starscream leaned back in his chair, red optics flashing. “What day do I usually go on recon?” he asked smugly.

Skywarp shrugged, sending a questioning glance at his trineleader. “Today, usually. When Megatron isn’t dealing with Shockwave’s mess.”

“And the Autobots would have no way of knowing he’s on Cybertron right now and we’ve changed the schedule,” Starscream purred.  He tapped the datapad screen again.

“Never quite understood why you stuck to a schedule like that anyway. No one else does,” Skywarp muttered. Starscream just glanced and him and smirked.

Thundercracker shook his head. “That still doesn’t make any sense,” he rumbled. “Why would Skyfire be waiting for you to fly recon?”

“Yes. Why bother to try to catch me alone, outside of battle?” He asked rhetorically. “Not only could I blow him out of the sky, but I can fly circles around him.” His tone was mocking, and he obviously didn’t expect a response from his trinemates as he opened another cube of highgrade.

Thundercracker narrowed his optics. _How many of those has he had? That’s the third one just since we’ve been here; he usually doesn’t drink that much in a week. And he isn’t even bothering to use that ridiculous glass he’d had made._

Starscream sipped the highgrade, gazing down at the video stream on the datapad. “But it _would_ explain why he was so close to the perimeter,” he continued with a smirk. “If he were any further away, he’d have no chance of getting within comm range before I was gone. And considering his alt-form’s size, the lower to the ground he flew, the less chance of being spotted.”

“Standard comm range is several hundred miles….” Thundercracker trailed off as he stared at the Decepticon commander. “You two have a private comm line.”

_“Had_ a private line _._ It’s not like it’s been used since before the war.” Starscream glanced at his trinemates and shrugged. “Low frequency band. Useless unless you’re practically next to each other.”

_Useless… but you’ve pretty much said that you haven’t purged the codes from your systems. And why even have such a low frequency comm line in the first place?_ Thundercracker looked at Skywarp. By his narrowed optics, Thundercracker guessed that the other mech was wondering much the same thing.

“This all just speculation anyway.” Starscream waved a hand dismissively, then smirked. “I’ll just have to _ask_ him why he’s here,” he purred as he took another sip of highgrade.

Thundercracker shifted uncomfortably, and Skywarp rolled his optics and stood, flaring his wings. “I’m leaving. I’m bored and quite frankly couldn’t care less about Skyfire. Megatron’s just going to kill him when he gets back tomorrow anyway.” The purple and black mech sneered. “We haven’t had a formal execution in a while. Considering Skyfire’s a traitor, Megatron’s going to want to make an example of him. It’s bound to be interesting.” He teleported out of Starscream’s quarters with a pop of displaced air.

Thundercracker rose from the couch and turned to go, then paused. He turned back to Starscream and crossed his arms, studying his trineleader. “You haven’t told Megatron yet, have you?”

“Oh, I’m sure Soundwave has.” Starscream waved off the question. “I try to talk to Megatron as _little_ as possible.”

“It’s your job as Second in Command–”

“Thundercracker, _do not_ lecture me on _my_ duties _,_ ” Starscream snarled, cutting him off. “You overstep your bounds. You are _my_ _Second_ , not my superior.”

The dark blue seeker paused for a long moment. “My… apologies, Commander,” he finally replied.

Starscream studied him with slitted optics. “You have something else to say?”

Thundercracker stared down at Starscream for a few klicks, considering. _It would probably be best if I just left._ His optics slid to the marks burned into the floor on the other side of the room and he cycled air in a sign. _Damn it all to the Pit._

“If I may speak freely. As your Second.”

Starscream regarded him for a long moment. Finally, he leaned back, setting his cube of highgrade down on the arm of the chair. “Speak, then.”

Thundercracker studied the Decepticon commander. “You are the Second in Command of one of the most powerful armies in the history of Cybertron. You graduated at the top of your class from the Vosnian War Academy. You were teaching advanced courses at the Academy _before_ you graduated.” He tapped his fingers against his arm. “If I recall correctly, you were one of only a handful of warbuilds to ever even be _accepted_ into the Iacon Science Academy, let alone graduate. You became one of the youngest Air Commanders in the history of Vos.”

Starscream raised an optic ridge, obviously wondering where he was going with this. “And?...”

Thundercracker stared down at Starscream and wondered when, exactly, he had lost his respect for his trineleader.

“And?” he rumbled, anger slowly building. “What you are doing isn’t _worthy_ of someone who holds all those accomplishments. Your attitude towards your Commander isn’t _dignified_ or _noble_. Your treatment of prisoners of war isn’t _honorable_ , and _hasn’t been_ for a long time.”

Starscream’s optics narrowed dangerously and his hand tightened around the datapad, cracking the glass and starting to dent the metal. The live video feed of the brig flickered and cut out.

Thundercracker locked optics with the rage-filled ones of his commanding officer. “ _Especially_ in regards to whatever your plans are for Skyfire. He’s no doubt going to be _executed_ by Megatron tomorrow. He’ll have _paid enough_ for his desertion; by the Pit, leave him his last day alive _in peace_.”

The Decepticon commander shot out of his chair, wings arching menacingly, broken datapad flying across the room. “I _will not_ have the likes of _you_ questioning me,” Starscream snarled, his voice a painful rasp. “You are in _no position_ to dictate terms to me! _I_ will decide what to do with him in payment for what he’s done, _not you._ ”

“What _could_ he have done to you?! This can’t be just about the desertion!” Thundercracker took a step forward, his own wings flaring as he faced down his trineleader. “It’s _wrong._ He’s a _scientist_ , Starscream. A _civilian._ There’s _nothing_ _he could have done_ that would deserve all of _this_.” He gestured, swinging one arm wide. “It’s _too much._ ”

He shook his head. “You’re going _too far_. You’ve played him for a fool since the beginning. It was all one of your twisted little games, and I’m sure he _knows_ that by now! Isn’t that _enough_ of a punishment? You’ve….” Thundercracker trailed off abruptly and stared at his commander, anger fading into shock as all the little pieces of the puzzle he’d noticed over the years added up and clicked into place in his mind.

Starscream had always been temperamental, impatient, and malicious. But after he returned from that failed expedition, it had all gotten worse; temper turned into rages and unpredictability, impatience into the paranoia that everyone was thwarting him, and petty maliciousness turned into outright cruelty. Given his reputation before, and his attitude afterward, everyone assumed Starscream had killed Skyfire, caused the crash, or at least deliberately failed to look for him afterward. They had all assumed that he had simply falsified his own sensor readings to hide it.

“We were all wrong, weren’t we?” He asked quietly, arms falling to his sides. “Your twisted little game didn’t go according to plan. And now… now you’re going to destroy him for that.”

Starscream hissed, taking a step closer. His hand blurred as it whipped out, closing around Thundercracker’s throat, and the blue seeker stumbled as Starscream jerked him forward and off-balance. Starscream stepped into his opponent’s reach, free hand snapping up to the amber glass on the blue mech’s chest.

Thundercracker stared into Starscream’s narrowed crimson optics from far too close and froze. He had dropped his guard for a moment, and that was something you _didn’t do_ around Starscream in a rage. Not if you wanted to live. His spark whirled in fear as the glass of his cockpit creaked under the pressure of his trineleader’s hand; he’d seen Starscream rip the living spark from other mechs with his bare hands before, and the glow of Starscream’s optics wasn’t quite sane.

Starscream stared at Thundercracker for a long moment, thoughts the blue seeker couldn’t even guess at churning in his processors, then suddenly shoved him away violently.

“Get. Out.” Starscream gritted through clenched denta, twitching wings radiating barely-restrained violence. “ _Now._ ”

Thundercracker didn’t hesitate to turn on one thruster and stride toward the door. He paused just outside the doorway and spoke without looking back. “Some advice from your Second,” he said quietly. “The highgrade isn’t going to help.” Thundercracker stepped away, letting the door slide shut behind him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Starscream was _not amused_.

He hadn’t recharged the night before, not after that confrontation with Thundercracker. He’d spent the rest of the night in his quarters turning over his trinemate’s words.

And then, this morning, Megatron – the Decepticon’s _Lord_ and _Master_ – had returned from Cybertron, and _hadn’t_ _even summoned him._

Instead, Starscream had been forced to _request an audience._

And now, Megatron had been considering his proposal for the last _fifteen klicks_. He forced back a snarl as he waited.

“And _why_ should I spare him?” Megatron finally rumbled, not looking up from the schematics scrolling over his console.

“I didn’t say _spare_ him, Lord Megatron.” Starscream smiled ingratiatingly, taking a step forward. He could see light and occasional diagram reflected on the Decepticon leader’s silver plating, but not detail. It was likely just plans from Shockwave for some new invention, but all information was worth _something_.

Starscream focused his attention on the Decepticon leader. “I can promise you, he will _pay_ for what he’s done. I’m just suggesting that we mold him and use him against the Autobots.” One more step and he’d be in position to catch sight of the screen.

“Because that plan worked _so well_ the _first time_ you tried it,” Megatron mocked, tapping the console so that its screen went black. He relaxed back in his throne and regarded his Second in Command with calculating optics.

“There was an… error in judgment,” Starscream hissed. “Mistakes were made. I have had far more time to plan since then.”

The Decepticon supreme commander laughed, the deep bass of his vocalizer echoing to all corners of the dim, empty audience chamber.

“An ‘error in judgment’? ‘Mistakes were made’?” Megatron said, amused. “After the first day, you treated him like a warrior under your command. Barely spoke to him except for screaming matches half the base heard.” He leaned forward, fixing Starscream with an icy stare. “You let your emotions rule you, Starscream. And they give away _far_ more than you would like.”

The words _‘that’s why you haven’t taken over leadership of the Decepticons yet’_ went unspoken, but Starscream heard them nonetheless. He ground his denta together.

“Fine, then.” Starscream forced himself to relax and smiled, gesturing flippantly. “We execute him.” He paused significantly. “Of course, that _does_ mean we lose the chance to get any information from him. And he _was_ a brilliant scientist back in the Golden Age. He probably still recalls things even _I’ve_ forgotten. There are so few records from that era… it would be a _shame_ not to use that knowledge to our advantage.”

Starscream flicked his wings invitingly and glided a few steps closer to the throne. “It _was_ his research in the short time he was here that allowed me to make the breakthrough to create the energon wire. And you know how useful _that_ has been.”

“Indeed. Useful for causing chaos, not much else.” Megatron quirked an optic ridge. “Although I’ve heard _you_ have made some interesting use of it.”

_How does he_ know _these things?_ Starscream snarled internally. _Damn Soundwave. I’m going to have to go over my quarters inch by inch._

Outwardly, he shrugged casually, then smirked. “One grows bored,” he purred, taking the final few steps onto the low dais that Megatron’s throne rested on. “Surely you don’t begrudge me my… pastimes?” He leaned forward, resting his hands on the arms of the throne, wings flared.

 Megatron chuckled. “And is Skyfire _just_ another pastime?”

Starscream snarled. “His carelessness and crash cost me my standing in the Science Academy, then he deserted us after all I did to repair him.He made me look like a _fool_.” He glared at Megatron through narrowed optics. “Let me have my revenge, my Lord. Let me break him for what’s done. Then _you_ can turn him back on the Autobots. It would be a sweet irony.”

Megatron rumbled approvingly, reaching one hand for Starscream’s right wing, tracing the Decepticon symbol branded in the center. “Indeed it would be. _If_ you can succeed.”

The seeker purred, pressing his wing into his lord’s hand. “I know _just_ how to do it, Master. I know the fool inside and out. This time, I’ll make better use of that information.”

A black hand closed around his right aileron – the same one that Skyfire had dented and that had been repaired only yesterday.

“ _This_ time, Starscream?” His hand began to tighten. “You had the knowledge the first time, and failed to use it. You’re asking for a second chance. Would _you_ grant it, in my place?”

Starscream made a low noise of anticipation as the grip on his wing tightened. “Master, I won’t fail you again. I swear it,” he panted as his cooling fans kicked on, pressing his wing into the silver mech’s grasp.

Megatron unexpectedly let go. “Very well, then. You will have your chance. I expect swift results.” He lowered his hand.

Starscream stared at him briefly in surprise, then smirked and eased forward, sliding one knee up to the seat of the throne. “You shall have them, my lord. But there is no reason for me to leave so _soon….”_

“On the contrary, Starscream,” Megatron said smoothly. “I’m quite done with you at the moment.” He brusquely brushed the seeker’s leg off his throne.

Starscream reared back, staring at Megatron in affronted disbelief. “But – you’ve been gone for solar cycles!” he sputtered. “And-“

“And?” The Decepticon leader raised an optic ridge. “You have a great deal of misplaced faith in your own appeal.” He leaned forward, optics flaring. “Do not misunderstand me, Starscream. This is a chance to prove yourself, not a concession you’ve wrested out of me. I _suggest_ you depart before I change my mind.” He settled back in his throne, dismissing his seething Second and turning his attention once again to the computer console built into the arm of his throne.

Starscream snarled, but finally turned on his heel and stalked out of the audience chamber.

\----

Megatron smiled slightly. Not only would this would keep Starscream occupied and away from his usual scheming for a while, but it would allow Starscream to finally rid himself of that absurd and distracting obsession with the shuttle. He smirked and went back to reading Shockwave’s status report.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Skyfire leaned his head back against the wall and stared at the ceiling. He’d nearly memorized the pockmarked pattern by now; he’d been in the brig for at nearly a full solar cycle, and there wasn’t exactly anything else to look at. Cell, narrow berth, ceiling, walls, floor, dim lights. Not even a window out into the main brig, as was to be expected, given the rest of the space.

He stood again and paced, flicking his wings and feeling the dull ache of the scratches on his back. Attempting to ignore the sensation, he tried once again to reason out the purpose of holding him for so long without any attempt at interrogation….

_“Unless you were to offer... information... that might be useful to our cause….”_ Skyfire shied away from the memory of Starscream’s voice, feeling the phantom heat of energon wire around his wings and arms.

The walls seemed to close in on him briefly, and Skyfire stopped dead in the middle of the cell, wings held stiffly out from his back. _I just… just need to get out of here,_ he thought, then caught himself and cycled air slowly to calm down. He had a touch of the typical flyer’s claustrophobia, made worse by being buried in the Artic after the crash; but fortunately it was something he was able to control - most of the time.

However, he had just barely fought off a panic attack several cycles ago, and he wondered if that was the very reason he’d been put here, instead of one of the cells with bars.

He went back to pacing, absently rubbing the scorch marks on his right arm. _Nearly a full solar cycle, and nothing except one delivery of energon rations. I would have at least expected someone to have stopped by to ask a few questions of the poor, claustrophobic shuttle. But… nothing. No interrogators, not even any ‘Cons stopping by to taunt me._ _No visitors whatsoever._

Skyfire shivered and paced a bit faster. _Not even Starscream…._

Skyfire’s engines hitched as the memory of Starscream writhing under him suddenly flashed through his processor. Once again stopping dead in the middle of the cell, he cycled air unevenly. _Primus._

He sank down on the berth and buried his face in his hands. _I’m obsessed. I thought I was over him. It’s been over two stellar cycles…._

Skyfire laughed bitterly and leaned back against the wall. _Is interfacing really all it takes for me to forget my ethics? I left the Decepticons because I couldn’t condone their actions. I still don’t. And I left_ him _because he’s not who he used to be._

_Or maybe… maybe he never was._

Skyfire reviewed his memory files – the ones he’d painfully compiled over the restless night. The history files involving Starscream’s disbarment from the Science Academy due to suspicion of causing Skyfire’s destruction; his meteoric rise through the ranks of the Seekers; the challenge and vicious defeat of the Air Commander he had served under; Vos’ decision to join the war, goaded by their new Air Commander; accounts of atrocities performed by Starscream’s Seekers, heard firsthand from the Autobots who had been there at the beginning of the war.

It was all there. And none of it made any difference in how Skyfire felt.

He stared at his hands. There were still smudges of bright red paint on his palms. He wondered briefly if Starscream still sported streaks of white along his frame. _I wanted him so badly. I couldn’t stop myself._

Skyfire dropped his hands to the berth and leaned back against the wall, checking his last system scan for the fifth time. _Nothing. No virus, no new code that he could have slipped into my programming… nothing._

_This obsession is all mine._

_Even after all he’s done, all he is…. I still love him. I still want him._

Skyfire pulled one foot up onto the berth and rested his forehead on his knee. _Primus, help me find my way._


	3. Claim

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Starscream guesses that it wasn't chance that brought Skyfire into Decepticon territory. Turns out he was right; Starscream isn't the only one who couldn't let go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same warnings as the first chapter, so read those, yada yada.
> 
> In addition: Implied exhibitionism.
> 
> Cybertronian measures of time (partially from tfwiki.net):  
> Joor = ~1 hour  
> Klick = ~1 minute  
> Solar cycle = 1 day  
> Stellar cycle = 1 year
> 
> Thank you to [Visambros](http://visambros.tumblr.com) for all her beta work, and also for the great ideas she tossed at me. :-D
> 
> I listened to a lot of Nine Inch Nails music while writing this, with the occasional Deftones, Muse and Garbage song tossed in. That may have influenced my writing....
> 
>  _I come along but I don't know where you're taking me / I shouldn't go but you're wrenching dragging shaking me / Turn off the sun pull the stars from the sky / The more I give to you the more I die / and I want you / you are the perfect drug_  
>  ~ NIN - The Perfect Drug
> 
>  _I wanted freedom, bound and restricted / I tried to give you up, but I'm addicted / Now that you know, I'm trapped, sense of elation / You'd never dream of breaking this fixation_  
>  ~ Muse - Time is Running Out
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Skyfire heard the cell door open and felt his shoulders relax a bit; the room had been starting to close in on him again. He raised his head, then sighed and regarded his visitor warily, holding himself in tight check. “Starscream.”

“Skyfire.” The Decepticon commander lounged against the doorframe, arms crossed and wings flexing lazily, regarding the Autobot with heavy optics.

Skyfire stood abruptly and stepped away from the berth, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at his captor. He heard a low chuckle.

“What do you want, Starscream?” Skyfire said harshly. “Did Megatron send you to bring me to my execution?”

“Mmmm. No.” Starscream pushed away from the doorframe, leaving the door itself open as he walked into the room. “Megatron’s given you to me... as is only right, being that you _do_ belong to me.”

“I hardly _belong_ to you,” Skyfire said indignantly. “I don’t _belong_ to anyone.”

Starscream’s lips quirked in amusement. He stopped several feet away, seeming highly entertained by the Autobot’s defensive posture.

Skyfire glared at the Decepticon for a few klicks. “So if Megatron’s not going to execute me,” he finally asked, breaking the silence, “then what?”

“Interesting that you don’t ask about the Autobots negotiating for your release,” Starscream said serenely. “Now, why is that, I wonder?” He tapped one finger on his chin and smoothly started to circle Skyfire.

“Could it be that they don’t expect you back?” He asked, continuing to walk in a circle around Skyfire, examining him closely. “According to recon, there hasn’t even been any unusual activity at the Ark. No panic, no concern, no search parties, and Prime hasn’t made any effort to contact Megatron to negotiate for your release.”

Skyfire tensed slightly as Starscream walked behind him, but refused to pivot to follow him, instead staring straight ahead with a bored expression, as if the seeker didn’t exist.

Starscream came full circle, stopping in front of Skyfire. He stared up at the scientist with narrowed optics. “No comments, Skyfire? No protestations? Nothing?”

The Autobot shrugged. “Why bother? It’s not going to make any difference what I say. You’ll believe whatever you care to believe. And _do_ whatever you care to do.”

“How… cynical of you.” Starscream smirked.

Skyfire snorted, transferring his gaze to the seeker. “Starscream…. You’re like a force of nature. A tornado, a hurricane, rolling over everything in your path… including me.” Skyfire gave a little laugh, surprised at the amount of bitterness in his own voice. “I’ve never been able to stand against you. No one has.” He glanced away as a small smirk appeared on the seeker’s face.

“…Why?” He asked reluctantly. “Why isn’t Megatron going to execute me?”

“Tell me why the Autobots aren’t looking for you, Skyfire.”

Skyfire’s arms tightened over his chest, but he remained silent, refusing to look at the seeker.

“Ah, the silent treatment.” Starscream’s voice was gently mocking. “How _original_. I really thought we would have been past this stage in our relationship.”

The Autobot snapped his head around and glared. “We don’t _have_ a relationship, Starscream. Not anymore.”

“Oh, I beg to differ.” Starscream smirked and stalked toward Skyfire.

Skyfire took a step backward at the distinctly predatory movements and tone. Starscream’s lips curved upward as he noted the inadvertent movement, and Skyfire silently cursed himself, firming his stance and standing his ground as the seeker stalked toward him.

“That ended stellar cycles ago. When _I left._ ”

“And what of the promise you made me, so long ago?” Starscream purred. He moved into Skyfire’s personal space, gliding just close enough that the scientist could feel the brush of the seeker’s energy field, but not _quite_ touching.

“Do you recall, Skyfire? You promised to stand by my side, through everything the universe could throw at us.” One hand drifted up and brushed Skyfire’s chest. “You swore that you would ensure my happiness, no matter what fate stacked against us.” Starscream moved just slightly, and suddenly they were touching along the length of their frames.

Skyfire cycled air quickly, staring down at the seeker, optics wide.

“Are you going back on your word?” Starscream regarded the Autobot with narrowed optics. “Are you an oathbreaker, Skyfire?” He purred.

Skyfire stepped backward, vents heaving in guilt and loss. “Don’t, Starscream. Whatever we had – we’re not the same any more. Either of us.”

“Oh? You’ve changed so much in two stellar cycles?” He smirked. “Or - perhaps should I say, in _one solar cycle_?”

“That…” Skyfire looked away. “…yesterday shouldn’t have happened.” He shuttered his optics as a wash of remembered heat rolled through his frame, followed shortly by remorse.

“Mmm. Such _delicious_ guilt,” Starscream breathed. Skyfire’s wings twitched as he felt the seeker lean against him again, and had to stop himself from reaching for Starscream, either in anger or… something else.

“Why shouldn’t it have happened, Skyfire?” Starscream asked languidly, tracing the blue glass on his chest with one hand. “Didn’t you enjoy yourself?”

Skyfire cycled air heavily, then gripped Starscream’s shoulders and pushed him back so they weren’t touching. “What do you want to hear, Starscream?” He asked, engines rumbling in frustration and dawning anger. “Yes, I enjoyed it, damn you. And that’s why it cannot happen again.”

“Oh, _really_.” Starscream flashed Skyfire a smug look. “And why is that?”

“Because you aren’t the mech I fell in love with! You- you aren’t the mech I made that oath to.” Skyfire snarled, giving Starscream a shove, forcing the smaller mech to step backward to keep his balance. “They – the Autobots – they _told_ me what you are. I even _saw_ what you are in the couple of months I was here before I left.”

His hands closed into fists and he glared, shaking with the effort of holding back his anger. “I didn’t believe them. I didn’t believe _myself._ Somewhere in the back of my mind I _knew._ I just chose not to _listen._ ”

Skyfire cycled a shuddering breath. “Even yesterday I thought…. But I’ve had time to think. Time with nothing for me to use to distract myself.”

He forced his fists to relax, forcing his anger back down and locking it away inside his processors. He stared off to the left. “I’m beginning to believe you. You _haven’t_ changed. The mech I knew…” Skyfire paused, shuttering his optics. “The mech I _loved_ never really existed, did he?”

For a few long moments, Skyfire listened to the faint creaking of the Nemesis settling under the weight of the water outside.

“I was never anything other than what I am now. You know that. It’s why you left.” Starscream said coolly.

Skyfire felt weary beyond imagining, but unsurprised. He _had_ known that. He had just been deluding himself into thinking otherwise. He had just tried to save his spark from the truth – that he loved someone who could never love him back.

“And the sensor malfunction? The radar interference that caused me to miss the incoming ice storm?” Skyfire regarded Starscream wearily. “Those were you, weren’t they?”

“What?!” Starscream snarled. “You’re _mine_ , I would never have—“ He cuts himself off, cycling breaths angrily. “Even if I had, you would have deserved it, considering how easily you betrayed me,” He finished evenly, regaining control.

The scientist laughed painfully and bitterly and turned away, staring blankly at the wall, wings low on his back. “Go away, Starscream. Leave me be.” Skyfire wrapped his arms around himself, conflicted.

_Just go, Starscream. Go before I do something I’ll regret._

There was a snort of amusement from Starscream, then movement. “Oh, no. Not yet.” The click of the seeker’s thruster heels echoed in the small room and stopped just behind Skyfire.

“You came here by yourself, didn’t you.” It wasn’t a question, and Skyfire tensed. “Thundercracker and Skywarp didn’t find any traces of anyone else, flyer or grounder.” The Autobot twitched slightly as a light touch brushed the curve of his wing. He flicked his wing away and glanced over his shoulder. Starscream was still regarding him with that distinctly predatory look, and Skyfire warily turned to face him, taking a small step away in the process.

Starscream’s lips curved up into a smirk. “Say what you like about them, they’re still seekers. I trained them myself.” He narrowed his optics and glided forward a step. “If there were any contrails or tracks, they would have found them.” He took another step forward. “So, Skyfire, tell me… why _were_ you in our airspace?”

Skyfire narrowed his optics at the seeker commander, resisting the urge to back away as he tried to come up with an excuse, any excuse.

Starscream stepped close enough that Skyfire could feel the heat rising off his frame. “Why _did_ you come back?” Starscream’s hand rested on the white paint just above the curve of blue glass on his chest, seeming to burn into his plating, and Skyfire’s intakes hitched. For a brief moment, he wanted to pretend. To forget the war, forget factions, and just allow the seeker to stake his claim.

Crimson optics flicked up to his face, and Skyfire pushed Starscream’s hand away, grateful that his battlevisor hid the conflict in his own optics. He forced false irritation into his voice. “Why the games, Starscream? What do you want with me?”

“I think the better question,” Starscream purred, “is what _you_ want with _me_.”

His intakes hitched at the tone of Starscream’s voice and at the memories that it recalled. _Primus. Even knowing what he is, what he’s done…._

He felt dizzy. Taking a few steps away, Skyfire sunk down onto the berth, wishing there was some other seating in the room. He clenched his hands around the frame to ground himself. “I just want what every prisoner wants.” He looked away. “Freedom.”  

_Freedom from still loving you. Freedom from still wanting your touch._

_“Oh?”_ Footsteps, then a light touch ran up his neck to under his chin. Skyfire barely suppressed a shiver as a slight pressure tilted his face toward the Decepticon. “Are you _sure_ that’s _all_ you want?” Starscream said silkily, as if he could hear Skyfire’s thoughts.

Skyfire met Starscream’s optics through the screen of his battlevisor. He forced his air intakes to remain steady despite the seeker’s touch. “Yes. That’s _all_.” He jerked his chin away from Starscream’s hand.

“What a coincidence... because that’s what I’m offering you, my _dear_ Skyfire.” Starscream smiled at Skyfire’s skeptical stare.

“You’re going to let me go,” Skyfire said suspiciously, narrowing his optics at the seeker.

“Oh, no,” Starscream glided a half-step closer and leaned forward, hands stroking over the bigger mech’s shoulders. “Not _yet_.” Skyfire shuttered his optics at the words. Starscream laughed softly.

“I said I was offering you freedom,” he whispered into Skyfire’s right audial, “and I am.” The berth settled as Starscream’s knee came to rest next to Skyfire’s hip. “Freedom from the cage of your principles,” the seeker breathed as he shifted, his other leg brushing over Skyfire’s thigh, “freedom from the cruelty of your scruples.” His hands slipped down Skyfire’s chest. “And freedom from your guilt,” he murmured against the Autobot’s neck, lips brushing neck cables with every word.

The frame of the berth creaked warningly as Skyfire’s hands tightened around the edge. Starscream laughed softly against Skyfire’s neck and leaned back. The Autobot cycled air in a pant and gazed up at the Decepticon commander straddling him, crimson optics flickering, wings flaring in a graceful sweep from his back. He felt his engines stutter as heat and arousal swept through his sensornet. _Oh Primus help me._

The scientist cycled a shuddering breath and shuttered his optics, but the silhouette of Starscream rising above him seemed burned into his processor. Grasping the berth frame tightly enough to dent, he shook his head, not trusting his voice.

Starscream caressed a hand down the Autobot’s chest, fingers lightly grazing his plating. “One might almost think you didn’t want what I have to offer… but we both know that’s not true, or you wouldn’t be here. Some part of you wants this...” He swayed forward, “Some part of you just wants to be… persuaded,” he breathed, his face mere inches from Skyfire’s.

“D-don’t,” Skyfire cycled a ragged breath. “I… _Primus._ ” He groaned as Starscream shifted his position again, letting go of the berth with the intent of pushing Starscream away. “Just… don’t….”

“Skyfire,” Starscream purred, “I think we’re far past false protestations now, aren’t we?” A hand slid to the back of his neck. “I think we did away with those last night,” he murmured against the Autobot’s neck cables. Skyfire gasped as the seeker’s glossa traced the contour of his neck, and his engines stuttered as he felt denta graze lightly over neck cables. His hands came to rest lightly on the seeker’s hips, and Starscream took advantage of the fact to move tantalizingly against the bigger mech’s frame.

“Starscream, don’t, I don’t want this-“ Static crackled through his vocalizer, giving lie to the words.

The Decepticon growled against Skyfire’s neck. “Shall I be cruel, then, Skyfire? Would it help to ease your guilt if you felt you had no choice?” Starscream’s hand tightened at the back of the Autobot’s neck, and denta scraped against neck cables as he bit lightly.

Skyfire moaned involuntarily, head falling back as heat flashed through his system, cooling fans finally kicking on.

“Progress, at last.” Starscream’s legs were hot brands on either side of his thighs as the Decepticon commander shifted slightly. Skyfire arched his back as Starscream did wicked things to his neck while his hands drifted over the shuttle’s wings.

Skyfire’s own hands were trembling as they rested on Starscream’s hips. Some small and still rational part of his processor was horrified. He felt light-headed as he tried to find words in the heat suffusing his processors. “I didn’t mean…”

“You didn’t mean _what_ , exactly?” Starscream hissed. He rose up to his knees, sliding the length of his frame against Skyfire’s chest. He brushed his lips across the other mech’s, a feather-light touch. “I think you’ve made it abundantly clear what you want, Autobot,” he breathed into Skyfire’s mouth. “You want the freedom to act on your desires…” Starscream’s hand slid up the back of Skyfire’s helm, then suddenly wrenched Skyfire’s head backward, “…without the guilt of having done so. You prefer to feel that it’s all out of your control.”

His mouth brushed the sensitive area right under Skyfire’s jaw. “Even now, you could make me let go… but you don’t even _try_. You want this, but you won’t admit that even to yourself.” The shuttle shivered under Starscream’s touch.

“The chains of your guilt, your moralities….” The Decepticon murmured against Skyfire’s jaw. “I can free you from those chains.” Starscream let go of his helm and shifted suggestively, frame sliding slowly against Skyfire’s. “You’ve always held yourself _so tightly_ in check. Your protestations, your _propriety_ … all that slides so, _so_ quickly into passion the moment you have an excuse,” he purred, hands moving to brace himself on the larger mech’s shoulders. 

Skyfire tilted his head forward to stare at the seeker. His hands shaking with barely-controlled desire, he traced the seeker’s form, hands stroking up hips to waist to wings. Starscream arched under his hands, wings flaring, cooling fans revving. Skyfire shuttered his optics at the sight, cycling a shuddering breath. “I-I don’t… understand--” his vocalizer glitched with static.

“I know,” Starscream purred. The Autobot groaned at the sensation of a hand tracing the lower curve of one wing, fingers brushing over sensor nodes. “You have no idea of what you want,” Starscream leaned forward, his voice husky in Skyfire’s audial. “You only know that you _need._ And you need… so… _badly_ ….” The seeker’s lips brushed Skyfire’s audial.

Skyfire shuddered as his remaining reservations collapsed under the flash of heat that burned through his sensornet. He suddenly found himself whimpering against the seeker’s neck as the red and white mech sinuously moved on his lap. “Please don’t stop,” Skyfire pleaded against Starscream’s neck cables, hardly knowing what he was saying. _“Please…”_

“Mmm…. Begging’s a good start,” Starscream whispered.

“I-I…” Skyfire shuddered as Starscream’s hand tightened on the curve of a wing and he fought to clear his processors. “Please… somewhere private - I don’t want anyone to….”

The seeker cradled Skyfire’s face and nipped the Autobot’s lower lip. “You seem to be of the mistaken impression that you have any sort of say in this,” Starscream murmured against Skyfire’s mouth. “It’s far too late for that, Skyfire.” He claimed the larger mech’s mouth, glossa twining around the Autobot’s.

Skyfire moaned, hips bucking involuntarily, as Starscream plundered his mouth. His hands tightened on the seeker’s waist and Starscream made a pleased sound low in his throat at Skyfire’s reaction. One of the seeker’s hands trailed down the Autobot’s frame, brushing over his chest and lower. The shuttle gasped as it came to rest over his interface panel.

“Open for me,” Starscream breathed, fingers caressing in small circles over the panel.

The Autobot whimpered, thinking of the open door and the cameras that were no doubt installed in the cell. Starscream growled in frustration at Skyfire’s hesitation. “There’s no one out there,” he hissed, knowing the shuttle’s inhibitions well. His tone suddenly turned silky. “Would you rather I paraded you through the halls? Flaunting that I choose to grant _you_ the honor of my berth and not _them_ ….”

Skyfire flushed at the mental image as Starscream’s hand continued moving teasingly over his panel. _He would… he’ll do just that if he took it into his processor…._

He arched backward as Starscream’s hands became more demanding. _And I- I don’t really want to resist. I want this._ With a moan, he surrendered to the sensations of the Decepticon commander’s skilled hands and mouth, feeling his panel sliding aside.

Starscream purred, trailing fingers up the shuttle’s spike, the scientist’s needy moans causing his own cooling fans to rev louder. He raised his head, optics flaring in satisfaction and hunger as they swept across Skyfire’s shuttered optics and shaking wings, small noises still issuing from the Autobot’s vocalizer.

A surge of lust raged through the seeker, and with a skilled twist, he swept Skyfire off-balance, pinning him to the berth with his hands on the large mech’s chest. Skyfire yelped, and dazed blue optics met predatory and possessive crimson ones.

 _“Mine,”_ Starscream snarled right before he claimed Skyfire’s mouth roughly, shifting himself into position straddling the shuttle and slowly easing downward.

Skyfire cried out, bucking his hips upward to bury himself in the seeker’s valve, optics offlining. Dimly, he heard his own static-laced cries and Starscream’s pleased sighs. The charge in his systems built as Starscream moved above him, and Skyfire shuddered, wings jerking back against the berth as sparks danced through his sensornet.

Starscream suddenly slowed in his movements, running his hands over Skyfire’s chest as the shuttle panted under him. Bending forward, he brushed his lips across Skyfire’s, eliciting a moan from the Autobot at the light touch.

“Beg for me,” he breathed in Skyfire’s left audial, hands continuing their stoking, one moving to Skyfire’s wing.

“S-Starscream,” Skyfire said before arching upward with a gasp.

“ _Beg_ ,” He purred. “Tell me how much you want this… ah… how much you want _me._ ”

“I-I want… mmm… yes right there, oh Primus…” Skyfire’s entire sensornet seemed to be on fire, every light touch from the seeker causing his internal temperature to skyrocket. “Please,” he moaned, hands trembling as they stroked over the Decepticon’s frame in turn. “p-please, Starscre-ah! Please, I…”

“Please, _what_ –ah…” Starscream shifted, wringing another moan from the scientist. “You didn’t… mmm… seem to want any of this earlier…”

“I-I did. I want – _ohprimus_ – I want _you._ I can’t… I’ve _always_ wanted you,” he panted.

“Is that… mmm… so?” The Decepticon commander said, even as static crackled through his own voice. “And what, precisely – _ah frag right there_ … do you want from me?” He purred, writhing under the shuttle’s hands.

Skyfire arched upward into the seeker, needy sounds issuing from his vocalizer. “I-I want to… I want to bury myself in you and never let go.…”

“Mmmm. And why – _ah-_ should I let you?”

Skyfire’s optics flickered back online, and he gazed into the crimson ones of the seeker. “Please don’t s-stop,” the shuttle whimpered as the seeker writhed above him. “I-I want this. I want –oh primus- want you. I-I’ve never been able to let you go.” He arched upward. “I-I came back for _you_. Just for you….”

“Yes…” Starscream hissed triumphantly at Skyfire’s words, optics flaring. His hands dragged down Skyfire’s sides, catching in vents and transformation seams before sliding up to his chest. Bracing himself, he lifted his hips up, then slid down in one long movement. Tossing his head back with a moan, he fell into a rolling rhythm.

Skyfire cried Starscream’s name as overload tore through his systems, back arching upward off the berth, sparks crackling across his frame and blinding him momentarily. His optics came back online and fixed on the seeker above him just as Starscream arched backward, shrieking in the grip of his own overload.

The Decepticon commander swayed forward to rest on Skyfire’s chest, raising flickering crimson optics to meet Skyfire’s blue gaze. _“Mine,”_ Starscream rasped possessively, voice crackling with static.

Skyfire shuttered his optics, feeling the aftermath of overload shiver through his systems. “…Yours.”


	4. We have a problem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skywarp needs a distraction, and the Autobots find out just what happened to their scientist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to [Fierceawakening](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Fierceawakening/pseuds/Fierceawakening) for the beta. Any mistakes are my own, as I edited after beta.
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Skywarp snarled, pacing in his quarters. Both his wingmates were on edge, and there was an echo down the trinebond that he did _not_ like.

It was that Pit-spawned shuttle, he was sure of it.

Starscream and Thundercracker had gotten into some sort of altercation. When Skywarp had confronted the blue seeker about it, Thundercracker had gone off on him – losing his temper for the first time in a long time.

It took a lot to get the steadiest of the trine riled up, but once he was....

Well, he was pretty effective at getting his point across. Skywarp was not to get near the shuttle. And most certainly _not_ to ask Starscream about him.

The purple and black seeker threw himself into a chair and stared out of the window.  

So now his trinemates weren’t talking to each other. And it was all the Primus-damned shuttle’s fault. Bad enough that Starscream should have become involved with him in the _first_ place, but at least that was _supposed_ to just be a passing amusement. But now? He’d apparently somehow talked Megatron into _not_ executing the shuttle.

He growled as remembered anger echoed down the trinebond. Skywarp couldn’t tell which mech it came from – he was guessing Thundercracker – but either way, it was _frustrating_.

The other two were more private than Skywarp and generally blocked off their ends of the bond unless they were in battle. But they’d been a trine long enough that he could sense them anyway.

Which was _invaluable_ for avoiding one or both of them. Especially given that they didn’t know he could still sense emotions down it.

Unfortunately, at times like this, that also meant that Skywarp dealt with _both_ of their volatile emotions echoing down the bond.

And Starscream’s side was reverberating with rising arousal that Skywarp was having a hard time blocking.

He growled. He needed a distraction, _now,_ and everyone he usually hit up was either busy, or out on patrol, or pissed off at him - he’d already checked. The dark seeker stood abruptly. Time to go find a drink. Then maybe a fight.

Skywarp grinned as he activated his teleportation drive, a flare of violet light enfolding him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Skywarp appeared in the officer’s rec room in front of the sidebar. He wasn’t actually supposed to be in here, but Starscream and Thundercracker wouldn’t be using it for a while, so it couldn’t _hurt_ , could it?

He blinked as he realized the vid-screen was running, blaring some human TV show or movie that involved lots of explosions. Loud bets, exclamations and shouted suggestions came from the couch placed in front of the vid-screen, although he couldn’t see anyone over the back of it.

Narrowing his optics, Skywarp walked quietly up to the couch and glanced down.

Yup. It was the fragging cassette twins. And they hadn’t noticed him yet.

With an evil grin, he leaned over the couch and dropped a hand on each of their shoulders. _“What the frag are you two doing in here!?!?”_

Frenzy and Rumble both shrieked in unison and tried to scramble away, held back only by Skywarp’s grip on their shoulders.

“Slag it Warp! What the frag? You’re not supposed to be in here either!” Rumble glared as he relaxed, realizing it wasn’t anyone he _actually_ needed to worry about. Frenzy just swore under his breath, relaxing only slightly at his twin’s words.

“Heh. I’m in the command trine, idiots. I can be here if I want.” Skywarp let go and leaned his elbows on the back of the couch. “You two, on the other hand....”

“Pfft. You don’t have any command rank,” Frenzy piped up. “You’re just hangin’ off Starscream’s wings.”

“Sorta like you hang off Soundwave?” Skywarp smirked.

“Hey, it’s not like he ever _uses_ the officer’s lounge!” Rumble protested defensively. “No harm in _not_ lettin’ his share of rations and whatnot go to waste, is there?”

Skywarp grinned. “Nope. And since TC hardly ever comes in here, I get to use his. Plus, Starscream’s gonna be busy for a while, so I doubt he’s gonna be in here.” The purple and black seeker stood and retrieved a high-grade cube from the sideboard, casually subspacing a few others for later.

“Oh, _yeah,_ ” Frenzy laughed. “He’s gonna be _busy_ for a while....”

Skywarp strode back over to the couch, cube in hand, and frowned down at the twins. “What’dya mean? And shove over.”

The twins obligingly scooted to one side of the couch so the seeker could sprawl on it. “Only that Screamer’s been _busy_ with the shuttle,” Rumble snickered.

Skywarp frowned, watching the twins suspiciously. “I thought he was in the brig.”

“Yeah, he is. And so is Screamer.” Both twins laughed, and Frenzy added, “Ya know that Soundwave records _everything_.”

Skywarp dropped his helm to the back of the couch and stared at the ceiling.  _Primus damn it, Starscream._

He took a drink from his cube and turned back to the twins. “All right. How much for that recording to go... _permanently missing_?” He smirked while simultaneously opening a private comm channel.

:: TC?... We have a problem. ::

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Optimus. Do ya have a moment?”

The leader of the Autobots looked up from the report he was studying. “Jazz. You know you are always welcome. Please, come in.”

The head of Special Ops walked into the office before pausing and sliding the door shut behind him. Optimus raised an optic ridge and leaned back in his chair, setting down his datapad.

“Official business, Jazz?”

The smaller mech sighed.

“Exterior surveillance photos of the Decepticon base perimeter. From Mirage.” He pulled a datapad out of subspace and set it down on the desk.

Optimus studied the head of Special Ops for a moment before picking up the datapad and turning it on. He sighed. “Skyfire.”

Jazz stood at attention in front of the desk. “Those were taken five solar cycles ago.”

Optimus looked sharply at Jazz. “Why was I not notified sooner?”

The saboteur showed no expression. “Mirage was... delayed.”

In other words, he didn’t want to report it. Optimus shuttered his optics for a moment, then looked back at the datapad.

The photos were of the coast nearest where the underwater Decepticon base had been built. They had obviously been taken from a long-range scope; it was dangerous to get too close to the enemy’s base, and Mirage was the only one who could even get _this_ close undetected. But distance or not, Skyfire’s alt form was easy enough to distinguish. The two seekers who captured him weren’t as easy to distinguish, but considering they were both dark colored....

Optimus set the datapad down. “Thundercracker and Skywarp.”

“That’s what Mirage reported.”

Optimus stared off past Jazz’s shoulder, deep in thought. “He was supposed to leave orbit. We had given him star charts, he had plotted a course to Altaire VII....” The red and blue mech trailed off.

Jazz raised an optic ridge in surprise, hidden under the battlevisor that he never removed. He had expected surprise, confusion... not resigned acceptance.

After a moment of silence, the white and blue mech spoke neutrally. “Should we plan a rescue mission?”

Without turning his head or changing his tone of voice, Optimus asked, “What percentage of success does Prowl calculate for such a mission succeeding?”

Jazz was silent, which was an answer in and of itself.

“Keep this within the ranks of the officers. I don’t want the hotheads going off half-cocked.” Optimus sighed and offlined his optics, rubbing his forehead.

“Optimus....” Jazz said, coming around the side of his commander’s desk. “We aren’t just going to leave him there, are we?” He shook his head. “The Cons aren’t exactly kind to most prisoners, and they probably consider him a deserter....”

Optimus was quiet for a few long minutes, remembering. He recalled the scientist’s reluctance to take to the battlefield, even in a support capacity; recalled the well-hidden anguish when he first joined the Autobots; recalled blue optics locked with red across the battlefield.

All of it a scenario that was all too familiar to the mech that had once been Orion Pax.

“He’s made his choice, Jazz. There’s very little we can do for him now.” Optimus’ processor-ache was getting stronger.

“Choice? Optimus, no one makes a _choice_ to be a prisoner to the Cons. It’s not like he _joined_ them. There’s gotta be _something_ we can do that’d be more successful than a full-out assault on their base.”

 _"Such as?"_ Optimus snapped, then stopped and forced his voice back into his usual controlled tones. “We might outnumber them, but they’re more ruthless and more heavily armed, and you _know_ how many defenses their base has.” The Autobot leader propped his elbow on his desk, rubbing his forehead.

“This isn’t an easy decision for me, Jazz. If you have any suggestions that wouldn’t lose us more than we would gain, I would be relieved to hear them.”

Jazz was silent for a long moment, then laid a comforting hand on his commander’s shoulder. “I’ll talk with Blaster, Prowler and Mirage, see what we can come up with.” He picked up the datapad and walked to the door, before pausing a moment with his hand on the handle, debating.

“He wanted to say goodbye.” Optimus said quietly, answering the unspoken question.

Jazz bowed his head for a moment, understanding, then left, door sliding shut behind him.

Optimus stared at the wall for a long moment before turning to his console and typing a short message on a secure channel that even Red Alert didn’t know existed. He clicked send and leaned back in his chair, awaiting the response he knew would be forthcoming.

He never had to wait long.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Optimus.” The deep, familiar voice rolled out of the speakers.

“Megatron. I appreciate you taking time to speak with me.”

“How could I refuse the request of an _old friend?_ ”

Optimus noted the emphasis, but elected to ignore the statement. “I assume you know why I am calling?”

“I presume it is because your shuttle’s gone missing. I admit, I _had_ expected this call sooner.... _Interesting_.”

“Is he still online?”

“As far as I know, yes.” A chuckle. “I was... persuaded... to delay his execution.”

Optimus was silent a moment. “Persuaded.”

“Indeed.” The voice from the speaker was gently mocking.

There was a hollow feeling in Optimus’ tanks, but his voice was steady. “And why is that?”

“You and I both know why, _Prime_ ,” Megatron’s voice was smooth, the title a sword thrust to the spark.

Optimus sighed, rubbing his forehead. “So you noticed as well.”

“How could I _not?”_

“Megatronus. Don’t make him suffer because of our history.”

Laughter from the other end of the line. “I’m doing nothing to him, Optimus. I don’t have your shuttle. You know who does.”

“Order his release.” Optimus leaned forward slightly, as though he could see through the communication line. “He doesn’t deserve....”

“What would you offer me in exchange?”

Optimus was silent. He had nothing that Megatron wanted right now.

At least, nothing he could afford to sacrifice.

Megatron’s deep voice echoed from the speakers. “Then you have your answer, _old friend_.” 


	5. Brand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the Decepticons, Skyfire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings as mentioned in the first chapter. Also, verging on non-con.
> 
> Also, this is the scene hinted at in the [fic cover](http://25.media.tumblr.com/7881b142cd532e6026552059898b9e16/tumblr_mgl34rSOy11roe2uuo1_r1_1280.png). Not a nice chapter to poor Skyfire. If you're looking for fluff, keep looking.
> 
> Written for you know who, who needed some Starscream/Skyfire feels. Maybe not quite the type you were looking for, but hope you enjoy anyway~
> 
> Thank you to [Fierceawakening](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Fierceawakening/pseuds/Fierceawakening) for the beta. Any mistakes are my own, as I edited after beta.
> 
> ( [This is the playlist](http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLa6MHQXRC4AS3MTHWKQ3N7zyou9F58MM&feature=edit_ok) I listened to a lot while writing this chapter. )
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Skyfire knelt, hardly daring to move. The energon wire bindings glowed faintly in the dim lighting of the room. Part of his processor – a very small, quiet part – questioned why he had followed Starscream here.

The larger part of his processor knew why.

He shuddered as Starscream leaned against his side, tracing the wire draped over his shoulders and wings. “Your core temperature is high, Skyfire. Perhaps you’re enjoying this? Being _helpless?"_

Skyfire shook his head in denial, shifting nervously.

“Are you _sure?”_ His lips brushed Skyfire’s neck, and the shuttle inhaled sharply, unable to resist tilting his head slightly to allow better access.

“Starscream, I don’t... the bindings....”

The Decepticon commander laughed, long and low. “I love the way you protest you don’t want this even as your frame tells me you do...” One of his hands swept along Skyfire’s shivering wing from tip to base. “The way your wings tremble under my touch...” He moved up to breathe in Skyfire’s audial. “That little hitch in your engines....”

Skyfire cycled air quicker, stifling a whimper.

“Ah, yes....” Starscream trailed his fingers down the bigger mech’s frame, “and the helpless little noises your vocalizer makes....”

Biting his lip, Skyfire arched into Starscream's touch, trying to remain silent as heat swept through his sensornet.

Starscream chuckled and circled Skyfire, hands brushing down the shuttle’s arms and across the bindings holding them behind his back.

“This reminds me of our recent reunion, Skyfire.” Starscream moved in front and leaned against Skyfire’s frame, one hand sliding to the back of the shuttle’s helm, tilting the bigger mech’s head forward. He locked optics with the Autobot as he leaned in until their lips brushed. “I love having you on your knees... just having you helpless before me....” Starscream breathed against Skyfire’s mouth while the shuttle panted with arousal. He pulled back slightly, regarding Skyfire through slitted optics and smirking as the scientist shivered.

“Do you want this, Skyfire?” He stroked one hand down the shuttle’s face, tracing the edge of the raised battlevisor, and leaned in again. “Tell me to stop,” he breathed, “and I will.” He nipped Skyfire’s lower lip. “All you have to do is say no....” The seeker’s hands drifted down his frame, massaging sensor nodes and caressing wiring.

Skyfire moaned, leaning into the seeker, wings trembling behind him. He wanted to move, to touch, but Starscream’s bindings held him back. “S-starscream....”

“Mmm… that stutter in your voice....” The Decepticon gave a low laugh, his hands stroking back up the larger mech’s frame. “That wasn’t a _no_ , Skyfire. As much as you claim not to like being bound, you seem to thoroughly enjoy it....”

He whispered the last against the shuttle’s lips, and Skyfire gave a strangled moan before moving the barest inch to close that distance. Starscream slid one hand to the back of the other’s helm, holding him in place with a growl as he returned the kiss, glossa twining with Skyfire’s with mutual heat. Skyfire flexed his bound hands, wanting to touch and being denied.

Starscream’s fingers dug into the back of the other’s helm as he pressed his frame fully against Skyfire’s, his cooling fans spinning higher, barely heard over Skyfire’s deeper-toned ones. After a long moment, Starscream pulled back, breaking the kiss with a not-so-gentle bite to Skyfire’s lower lip.

“Oh, _so_ tempting, but that’s not what we’re here for....” The seeker drew away slowly, stepping back and trailing one hand lightly along the shuttle’s frame.

Skyfire cycled air heavily to assist his roaring cooling fans, desire warring with trepidation as the seeker pulled away. “What a-are we here for then?....”

Starscream chuckled, not answering his question and instead moving to the shuttle’s side. “These symbols,” Starscream purred, dragging his hand along Skyfire’s wing, lightly scratching the paint over the Autobot emblems, “they don’t _fit_ you.” The Decepticon glided to his back.

“You don’t belong to _them_ anymore, do you, Skyfire?” Starscream’s voice purred into his audial. His hand ever-so-lightly traced the edge of one wing.

Skyfire offlined his optics and leaned his head back, knowing the response Starscream wanted. “N-no... I belong to you....”

Starscream made a pleased sound at the answer, and expertly stroked the wing in reward, wringing a whimper from the larger mech. “So what shall we do to reinforce that, Skyfire? How shall we... _ensure_... that everyone knows that?”

The shuttle shivered. “I-I don’t know?”

“Mmm.” The seeker pressed himself between the other’s wings, hands drifting slowly down the larger mech’s sides. “I can think of a few things, Skyfire. Should I share them?”

Skyfire trembled under the seeker’s hands, wings shuddering.

Starscream chuckled at the shuttle’s reaction. “So _conflicted...._ ” He nipped at Skyfire’s neck cables, denta scraping lightly. “You don’t like _not_ knowing what I’m planning... but at the same time, you _revel in it.”_

Skyfire bit his lip as arousal flared through his sensornet, unable to dispute Starscream’s words.

“I know the _perfect_ way to prove you belong to me, Skyfire.” He drew back, hands brushing over frame and wings lightly. “And it will ensure you’ll never go back to the Autobots again,” he purred.

A stronger flash of apprehension flared down his backstruts. “W-what do you mean? I....” He could hear Starscream moving away from him, but when he turned his head, he could only see the seeker’s back and flare of wings.

“You have become something of an amateur historian, have you not, Skyfire?” The seeker glanced over his shoulder at Skyfire, a smirk half-hidden by the arch of one wing. “Since your reawakening?”

Skyfire shivered at the hint of venom in Starscream’s tone, and tried to clear the fog from his processors enough to grasp what that had to do with this situation. “I-I don’t understand....”

The red and white mech laughed. “Perhaps you could tell me of the history of the Decepticon brand?” He turned toward Skyfire, smoothing his palm down the handle of the object he held.

Skyfire’s fuel lines froze with apprehension as his optics fixed on it. A branding iron, the end glowing a faint violet. He suddenly felt light-headed.

Starscream stepped close, EM field flaring to brush against Skyfire’s. “It’s more than just a painted symbol, did you know?” His free hand trailed down Skyfire’s chest, pausing over the pristine red paint directly above the curve of blue glass. “It was a declaration. A badge...” He leaned in until their lips were almost touching, slitted crimson optics locking with wide blue ones. “A _claim.”_

“Starscream,” Skyfire breathed. “Don’t. Please....”

The Decepticon smirked, optics studying Skyfire’s face, watching the flickers of alarm chase across his facial plates. “ _Don’t?_ But we were _so_ enjoying ourselves,” he purred, hand stroking downward, tracing the blue glass of his cockpit and toying with the transformation seams. Skyfire trembled, letting out a gasp as Starscream’s fingers slid along a seam on his side leading to the base of his wing.

“The brand wasn’t used for everyone, of course,” he smirked. “Only those of us at the heart of the movement... and those we claimed for our own.” He flared his wings, and Skyfire’s optics briefly flicked to the dark purple symbols in the center of each of Starscream’s wings.

“Starscream, please. I-I... you know I won’t leave.” His vocalizer crackled with static from both apprehension and the charge once again rising in his sensornet under Starscream’s hands.

“I didn’t think you would,” The Decepticon commander hissed. “You are mine. This...” he took a step away, bringing the brand up where Skyfire could see it, _“...this_ is only the representation.” He ran a possessive hand down the handle, watching the shuttle languidly. “But it’s more than that, Skyfire.”

“T-the shell program....” The scientist couldn’t pull his optics away from the brand.

“Yes, the shell program....” He watched Skyfire closely, gently stroking one finger up and down the long handle. The shuttle’s optics followed the movement, his breathing speeding up. Starscream smirked, knowing it wasn’t _entirely_ from apprehension.

“Do you know what the shell program does, Skyfire?”

Apprehensive optics flicked to Starscream’s face, and he didn’t answer. Starscream slowly ran his glossa over his lips, and Skyfire’s engines hitched.

He laughed, voice low, and glided back into the shuttle’s personal space, one finger under his chin gently tilting his face up. Starscream brushed his lips against the Autobot’s, a whimper escaping from Skyfire’s vocalizer.

“Some minor rewriting of code... an additional subroutine or two,” Starscream breathed into Skyfire’s mouth. “Nothing _serious_... and I wrote this one _just_ for you.”

Skyfire’s wings twitched and he struggled to maintain coherent thought as his cooling fans roared. “Why are you d-doing this?...”

Starscream smirked, lips curving against Skyfire’s, wringing another gasp from him. He lifted his head and studied the apprehension and desire warring on the shuttle’s face. “You are so _very_ conflicted, aren’t you, Skyfire?” His hand drifted from Skyfire’s chin, down his neck cables, and came to rest on his chest. “I’m solving some of that struggle for you.” He shifted, bringing the brand up and activating it, a bright purple glow tracing its way around the edges of the faction symbol.

“S-Starscream, no. Please-” The rest of his sentence was lost as the seeker claimed his mouth, and Skyfire moaned, cooling fans revving, as heat washed through his systems. “Please... d-don’t do this....” he whispered. The Decepticon commander chuckled and deepened the kiss, glossa tangling with Skyfire’s; the Autobot groaned and leaned into the kiss, wanting – needing – more, despite his trepidation.

Starscream growled at the movement, low and possessive, and shifted. Suddenly a searing pain burned its way into Skyfire’s chest, radiating out from a single point, tearing through his sensornet like fire. He screamed and arched backward, tearing away from the Decepticon commander as the sensation burned its way deeper, working toward his processor core and spark. He shook as it washed through him, sensornet overenergized and trembling on the cusp between pleasure and pain, every sensor node flaring.

Starscream purred in satisfaction, discarding the brand with a flick of his wrist in favor of running both hands over the shuttle’s shoulders, causing Skyfire to vent raggedly, shaking, at the sudden sensation. He blinked away tears of pain as Starscream lightly stroked the area around the brand, causing fresh waves of conflicting sensation to shiver through his sensornet.

 _"Mine,"_ Starscream purred. He raised one hand and lightly traced the trail of tears escaping from the other’s optics, catching the liquid and slowly raising it to his lips, glossa darting out to taste.

Skyfire moaned Starscream’s name, shivering, optics locked on the seeker’s mouth.

“My Skyfire,” Starscream breathed. He stepped up to the former Autobot, mouth lowering to Skyfire’s, but not _quite_ touching, hands drifting over the shuttle’s frame. He traced transformation seams and dipped between plating to caress wires and massage sensor nodes expertly, knowing all of the shuttle’s weak points.

“S-Starscream....” Static crackled through Skyfire’s vocalizer, and he shook, gasping, pain still shivering through his sensornet but quickly fading, buried under the rising charge. “Primus... I- _ah_...!” He gasped, processor spinning, trying not to move as he felt the energon wire bindings pull. “P-please, I can’t...!” He froze and cried out as Starscream’s hands found their target, waves of mingled pleasure and pain flooding his systems.

Starscream laughed, a low sound, and pressed against the larger mech’s shuddering frame.

“Welcome to the Decepticons, Skyfire.” ~~~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the shell program and repercussions thereof will be explained in further chapters.


	6. Adrift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skyfire attempts to determine the effects of the shell program. Meanwhile, Skywarp decides to take out some of his frustration on the mech he determines to be the source of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are my own, as this is unbetaed.
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Skyfire tossed the datapad aside with a small sound of frustration and leaned forward, bracing his shaking hands on the lab table, staring at the smooth surface.

What was he even _doing_?

He raised one hand toward his chest before dropping it in an aborted movement. It was still there, he knew it was still there. He could feel it. 

Skyfire slumped back, dropping onto a stool and glanced around, attempting to think about anything else other than… _that_. 

He sighed, letting the lab distract him. He had to admit that the lab was far better stocked than the one he’d used before coming here. Several lab tables graced the interior of the large, airy room – as airy as it could get in an undersea base, anyway. It had obviously been built for a flyer’s need for openness, with high ceilings and no interior walls, just wide spaces with small groupings of lab furniture and equipment.

Skyfire felt comfortable in the room, even with his large size – the lab didn’t trigger his claustrophobia like most of the rest of the base did.

 _Starscream’s_ lab. _Starscream’s_ base.

He shuttered his optics and took a deep breath, pushing away the thought, focusing on the lab table. The project he was _supposed_ to be working on waited, vials emanating a soft green radiance, datapads interspersed amongst the lab equipment, notations and calculations glowing from the displays. Synthetic energon – an interesting concept, and one that could mean a lot in the war. With it, the Decepticons would not need to raid the humans and the Autobots. If Skyfire could get it stable, he might be able to change the course of the war.

But instead of working on that….

He picked up the datapad he had tossed aside, looking at the readout.

`<< WARNING >>`

`Foreign Code Detected`

`Purpose: Unknown`

`Removal Procedure: Undetermined`

`Suggested Course of Action: ......`

`<< CONNECTION LOST >>`

Skyfire stared at the last, blinking line, and shuddered. 

His own internal scans had come up with nothing in regards to the shell program. It was like it just… _wasn’t there_. Then he had found this medical datapad among the others for this project - it had a full suite of medical scanners installed, likely to gauge the effect of the Synth-En on test subjects. 

Skyfire had snatched the opportunity to use them on himself. It had found what his internal scans had not. 

Somehow, the code Starscream had written had bypassed his firewalls and virus protection subroutines, then rendered itself invisible to them.

Skyfire _did_ have to admit to himself that it was not all that surprising, really. Starscream was a genius, and he knew Skyfire well. 

And he’d been inside the firewalls before.

The scientist shivered at the memory – the two of them, under the stars on some distant planet, hardwired together with their datalinks, even as Skyfire moved inside the seeker, Starscream’s helm thrown back as he moaned at the dual sensations….

 _No._ The scientist ripped his thoughts away from that memory. He couldn’t think of that now.

He sighed and set the datapad down, hand still shaking. He had confirmation now. The shell program _was_ there. Just… invisible to him.

And it was active. As soon as the medical program had detected it, it had activated, severing the connection.

Just like a particularly malicious virus would.

But that wasn’t the most frightening part. So far, Skyfire seemed to be unaffected, which meant that either it was waiting and just hadn’t hit the right combination of triggers yet - or it _was_ affecting him and he couldn’t tell.

The scientist couldn’t decide which option was more terrifying.

He cycled a calming breath. It couldn’t do much to him. Not really. If the shell program was that powerful, the Decepticons would never worry about desertions, or disobeyed orders, or concern themselves with loyalty. 

And there was far too much infighting in the Decepticon ranks for that to be true. Which said that whatever the shell program did, it couldn’t be _too_ serious. It couldn’t control him. If the Cons had that power… well, the war would have been over long before he woke up from the ice.

He just needed to figure out what it was supposed to do, and what to do about it. In the meantime….

Skyfire tapped a quick series of codes on the datapad, erasing the scan results and the log files. No need for anyone else to know that he….

The sound of the door sliding open caused the scientist to swivel around on his stool, spark pounding, not sure if it was with anticipation or apprehension. 

He felt almost disappointed that the seeker who stepped into the room wasn’t painted bold red, white and blue, but instead black and purple.

“S-skywarp?” He reset his vocalizer. “What can I do for you…?”

The dark seeker sneered, looking around the lab as the door slid closed behind him. Seemingly satisfied that they were alone, he fixed red optics on Skyfire and stalked forward, gliding around the lab tables in his path. “You? _Nothing_ ,” he said scornfully. “ _That’s_ what you can do. _Nothing_.”

Skyfire’s brow furrowed in confusion and he blinked at the Decepticon. “I-I don’t understand…?”

“There’s nothing _to_ understand, _taxi,_ ” Skywarp spat, tone full of spite. “ _Just leave my trineleader alone!_ ”

“Leave—“ Skyfire stared, instinctively rising to his pedes as the other closed in. “I’m not— I haven’t done _anything_ to Starscream! If anything, it’s the other way around!” He made an aborted gesture to the brand on his chest, variable sweep wings swinging downward in the face of the other’s anger.

Skywarp flared his wings and stepped right up to Skyfire, seemingly unconcerned with the size difference – most likely rightly so, given that he’d seen several millennia of war, and Skyfire wasn’t even a military model. 

“You _know_ what you’ve done,” he snarled. “You’ve– do you know what it was _like_ , after your crash? _We_ had to deal with him after that, _not you._ Then, when he had us bring you out of the ice and repaired you, how did you repay him? _By deserting_. Traitor. Betrayer. Oathbreaker.” Narrowed crimson optics flicked to the shuttle’s lowered wings, grazing over the Autobot symbols – the paint scratched and damaged from Starscream’s attentions, but still visible. “You joined our enemies. And now – _now_ you’ve somehow managed to convince him to let you live, and in turn he’s convinced Megatron.”

Skywarp’s optics focused on the Decepticon brand on Skyfire’s chest. “You’re not a Con. You’ll never _be_ a Con.” His optics flashed back up to meet Skyfire’s startled blue ones. “So don’t even _try._ Go. _Leave._ ”

Skyfire stared down at the seeker, unsure of how to respond. He didn’t understand Skywarp’s anger – _he_ was the one who had been wronged, not Starscream – and he opened and closed his mouth a few times, at a loss. However, that last statement prompted him into action, confusion suddenly giving way to anger.

“Do you think I _want_ to be a Decepticon?!” He shouted. “Do you think I _want_ this?” He gritted his denta, trying to push the anger down and away, attempting to relax suddenly clenched fists. “I _loved_ him! And he _betrayed me._ ” He took a step forward, looming over the shorter seeker, and gave a hopeless laugh. “And here I am, _at his mercy_. Do you not see that I didn’t want this? _Any_ of this? I was going to _leave_ , Skywarp. _I just wanted to say goodbye! And look what he’s done to me!_ ” 

Skywarp’s optics flared, and he had just opened his mouth to make an angry report when the door slid open yet again. “Skywarp!” The snapped word echoed in the room, as did the angry rumble of engines. 

“You are _out of formation,_ Seeker. I _told_ you to leave him alone.” Thundercracker stepped into the room, optics fixed on his wayward trinemate. “I _told_ you to stay away.”

Skywarp glanced over his shoulder with a smirk. “Or _what_ , TC? We already have recordings floating around that—“ He snapped his mouth closed and redirected his glare to Skyfire. “It’s all _his_ fault, TC. He should have been _taken care of_ the first day he arrived.”

“ _That_ is not for you or I to decide,” the dark blue seeker responded, striding forward, vials on lab tables jittering as he passed. The rumble of his engines was just below the level needed for a sonic boom, a sure indication of his anger.

As he moved up to just behind the other seeker, Thundercracker’s optics met Skyfire’s for a moment, and the scientist could have sworn he saw a brief flash of apology in them before they dropped to Skywarp. “We’re _leaving_ , Warp. _Now.”_

The darker seeker snarled, obviously unhappy as his trinemate dropped a heavy hand on his shoulder, but bowed his head slightly. With a flare of violet light that was almost blinding, he activated his warp drive and the two suddenly vanished.

Skyfire blinked the aftereffects of the teleportation from his optics and eased himself down onto his stool.

_What the scrap just happened?_

Skywarp’s anger made no sense. And what had Thundercracker meant when he’d said he’d told Skywarp to leave him alone? Why? And what was that about recordings?

None of it made any sense. Why was Skyfire being blamed for….?

There were undercurrents and plots here that he didn’t understand. He felt like he was lost in a storm, navigation system down, being tossed about by gale-force winds, and with no way of finding his way out.

Skyfire swiveled around so he could brace his elbows on the lab table and drop his aching helm into his hands.

He was cast adrift, and playing a game with rules that not only did he not understand, but that hadn’t been explained to him in the first place.

And on top of it, he had potentially malicious code lurking in his processor that he couldn’t detect nor alter without outside help.

Welcome to the Decepticons, indeed.


	7. Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jazz tries to bargain with Starscream for Skyfire's return. However, Starscream doesn't tend to let go of what's his.

Jazz frowned, visor tilted toward the sky, watching.

He was late.

The head of Spec Ops shifted slightly in place.

Or... he was setting an ambush.

Not out of the realm of possibility – although, Jazz thought he had managed to play enough on Starscream's ego that the Seeker would want to hear what he had to say first.

....Probably.

....He hoped.

The Porsche tensed fractionally as he suddenly heard the scream of fighter jet engines – coming in fast. Helm snapping to the west, he watched as a familiar red and white F-15 barreled toward his location.

Jazz’s tactical processor screamed warnings at him to get out of the way, that the Decepticon was coming in too hot and too fast. He was either going to crash – or, more likely, just execute one of the strafing runs that the Seekers were notorious for.

Instead of heeding the warnings flaring on his visor’s HUD, Jazz stood fast, holding his ground. He knew how the Decepticons worked – intimidation and fear. If he flinched, it would be counted as a weakness. 

And he’d lose this encounter before it even began.

But oh, how he _wanted_ to dive out of the way and take cover.

His gamble paid off when Starscream engaged VTOL at the last moment, his nosecone angling up sharply, backdraft from his engines hitting Jazz almost like a physical blow. The Seeker transformed even as he came in, and landed with a slight impact, knees bent, one fist on the ground. As the clouds of dust from his landing settled, he straightened to his full height in a wide-legged stance, crossing his arms over the amber glass on his chest and looking down at the Autobot with a smug smirk.

Even Jazz had to admit it was an impressive display of skill and threat.

But then again, Starscream _was_ the leader of the Seekers. Unlike his comrades, Jazz had never forgotten the Decepticon Second In Command’s history, nor did he totally believe the rumors that floated around the Ark about supposed incompetency.

One did not last long in the position Starscream was in if he were incompetent. Jazz knew that _very_ well. He never forgot what the Seekers were before the War. Nor did he forget Starscream’s very public history – or what he did to become Air Commander. That _was_ , after all, part of Jazz's job – information.

Sadly, few believed the threat of many of the Cons now. Familiarity bred contempt, and they'd been fighting for too long, with too much ancient history lost - except by Jazz, Prowl, Prime, and a few of the other higher-ups.

So it was with a casual but impressed grin that he inclined his helm to the Decepticon. “Niiiice! Ya about had me divin’ for cover there for a minute.”

Starscream raised an optic ridge. “Yet here you stand. Point to you, Autobot.” He raised one blue-painted hand and inspected the finish critically. “But compliments on my flying aren’t what you called me here for.”

Jazz shrugged, raising his hands. “Right to the point, Starscream? Well, you know what I called ya here for.”

“And you know my answer already, Jazz,” Starscream purred. Apparently finished with inspecting his paint for scratches, he settled back into his casually aggressive stance and raised one digit to wave it tauntingly. “It’s still no,” he said in a slight sing-song tone.

“Then why’d ya decide to meet me?” Jazz asked, tilting his helm as he looked up at the taller mech. Slag, he had forgotten just how _big_ Seekers were. Sure, they _looked_ graceful and slim in the air – but Jazz barely came up to his chest, and Starscream was a hell of a lot bulkier than most gave him credit for – probably because he stood next to Megatron most of the time, and _anyone_ would look small in comparison.

“Maybe I was just intrigued at your offer.” Starscream raised one optic ridge. “It's not every solar cycle my trine and I are offered amnesty for our so-called 'war crimes'. But I am curious... what _is_ the shuttle to you? Mere _transportation?_ It's not like you Autobots ever used his _real_ skills.”

“And you will?” Jazz raised a skeptical optic ridge of his own. “Or will he be just another one of your... _toys?_ ” Jazz had heard accounts of what happened to prisoners of war in Decepticon hands – and in several of the cases, that centered around Starscream and his... particular hobbies.

Starscream laughed. “Oh, no. He's _so_ much more than _just_ a toy.” He smirked at the smaller mech. “I _am_ surprised _you_ , however, are not concerned about yourself,” the Seeker Commander said smugly. “After all, here you are... no backup, well within my reach, and – as we both know – no match for me physically in a straight hand-to-hand fight, given your specialties rely more on surprise.” Starscream tilted his helm slightly, curious. “Why take such a risk? For one who was leaving you anyway?”

Something about the way Starscream said that – ‘for one who was leaving you anyway’ – sounded... off. Skyfire was supposed to have just been on a recon mission, and Starscream was making it sound _different_ , more permanent. Jazz filed the comment away; his tactical processor could mull it over later.

As it was, he was starting to get the feeling that he would need all his processing power to make it out of here in one piece.

Jazz flashed a confident grin at the taller mech. “Who says I didn’t bring backup?” He raised one hand in a small gesture. Engines rumbled to life, and a green Jeep rolled out of the brush from where he had been hidden in a cavern in the rockface behind Jazz. Hound would have been completely hidden from above, and Jazz was confident that Starscream was too focused on him during the conversation to have noticed. Mirage, of course, stayed hidden – perched on a cliff face within easy shot range, a sniper rife borrowed from Bluestreak trained on the Seeker.

Starscream watched Hound rumble out of the brush, weapon trained, but looked unimpressed and didn't even bother activating his Null Rays. Glancing back at Jazz, his lips curved up into a far too satisfied smirk.

“So did I.”

He didn’t gesture, didn’t move, there wasn’t even evidence of a comm line – and suddenly, there was a roar of jet engines, and a heavily armed and armored military jet dropped out of the clouds, all weapons active and trained on Hound. At the same time, Jazz got a quiet comm from Mirage – an image packet, of a purple and black Seeker suddenly appearing above him, landing heavily on the rock face, one pede on either side of the other’s back where he was laying with the sniper rifle, both arm-mounted blasters aimed squarely at the – supposedly – invisible spy’s backstruts, slightly deranged grin on his faceplates.

“....So, Jazz. You were saying?” The Decepticon Second in Command purred.

Jazz looked at Starscream and inclined his helm. Check and mate. He’d been outmaneuvered – he hadn’t even seen Thundercracker in the cloud cover, despite having several scans on a multitude of frequencies going, and Skywarp.... 

“How _did_ you notice Mirage?” he asked curiously, not really expecting an answer.

Starscream smirked. “You’re not the only one with spies,” he said smoothly. 

“I’m surprised you brought Sounders in on this little meeting....”

The Seeker Commander’s optics narrowed lazily. “Who said I did?”

The Autobot’s lips quirked, acknowledging the point. It _did_ make him wonder, though – about the rumors of Skywarp’s _other_ activities in the war. But he knew he wasn’t going to get a better answer than that. He shrugged calmly, like the Decepticons _didn’t_ have his team outmaneuvered, even as he deflected a concerned comm from Hound.

“We took the risk because Skyfire is one of us. We believe in team, and will naturally try to rescue members of our team who are captured.”

“Oh?” Starscream said archly, ignoring the others completely, even the comm chatter and threats in the background, even as Hound armed surface-to-air rocket launchers, and Thundercracker lowered in altitude, blasters humming menacingly, missiles trained on the scout. “And I suppose you didn’t bring Blaster or Prime in on this little meeting either, did you? Because....” He paused, mock innocently, tapping one digit against full lips, “I happen to have it on _good authority_ that Megatron already turned down Prime’s plea for return of the shuttle.”

Jazz was momentarily grateful for the ever-present visor that hid his optics. He didn’t think he would be able to hide his surprise at that statement – Optimus had not mentioned anything about such a discussion. His processor raced, return sallies being considered and discarded in an instant.

“Ah, but _I_ am not appealing to _Megatron_ , am I?” He flashed a casual grin. “I’m talkin’ to _you._ ”

“Which only proves that you are somewhat wiser than Prime,” Starscream responded smoothly. “But only _somewhat_.” He stepped forward, wings flaring, to loom over the smaller Autobot, apparently deciding to drop the game. “I begin to grow _bored_ with this discussion, Autobot. So let me make this clear.”

Starscream stared down at Jazz, optics narrowed, cruel smirk on his lips. “Skyfire is _mine._ My property, my territory. And in case you wondered....” He raised one hand, holding a data crystal that he had retrieved from subspace. “....He’s not returning to _you._ ” Dropping the datacrystal – by pure reflex, Jazz snapped it out of the air in one smooth movement – the Decepticon Second in Command stepped back to give himself some clearance. 

“You may depart this time – but only because I do not care to waste my time with your incoming reinforcements. And besides....” He smirked, “I am entertained, and thus in a good mood. So count your lucky stars, Autobot.” Crouching slightly, he took off in root mode, powerful heel thrusters firing as he shot into the air. 

With a final, warning rumble of engines, Thundercracker also rose into the air, following his trineleader, and Jazz got a somewhat relieved (if put out) comm from Mirage with the image of Skywarp – with a disappointed pout – vanishing in a flash of violet light and pop of displaced air.

Ignoring his teammate’s concerned comm chatter and the arrival of the Lambo twins – who had automatically started toward their position when Hound’s automatic pings had stopped, when he had broke cover – Jazz held the datacrystal up to the light.

Interesting. Very, _very_ interesting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once in the upper atmosphere, Starscream transformed back into alt mode, Thundercracker falling into formation right off his right wing. Skywarp appeared a moment later in his place in formation, the distinctive flare of violet light from his warp drive dissipating around him.

::Starscream, what was the _point_ of all that? We could have taken out the head of Spec Ops right then.:: Thundercracker's deep voice rumbled over the comm lines; although the trinebond was fine for simple emotions and concepts needed in battle, some things required words.

::And I had Mirage dead to rights, Screamer! Coulda taken 'im out right then,:: Skywarp chimed in, his slightly petulant tone in direct contrast to Thundercracker's more serious one. Although the blue seeker's concern was more because of tactics, Skywarp's main disappointment was leaving his perceived nemesis - one of them, anyway, there were several - alive.

::They'll carry a message back,:: Starscream answered smoothly. ::One, it was a _reminder_ that we are _not_ to be trifled with. Many of the Bots forget this simple fact – forget what the Seekers were, forget who I _am_. That's not acceptable.:: He laughed quietly over the comm. ::And second... that datacrystal was my way of ensuring that even if Skyfire _does_ attempt to return – well. Let's just say he won't be.::

Both the others were silent for a long moment as they flew, already at Mach 1 and increasing in speed.

::Starscream....:: Thundercracker finally asked reluctantly, ::What was on that datacrystal?::

The Second In Command of the Decepticons smirked internally. ::Information, my dear Thundercracker. Simply... _information_.:: His smug tone over the comm changed, becoming harder. ::Engage full burn and return to base, Seekers. Megatron wants plans for the next energy raid on his desk in a joor.::


	8. Chapter 8

Optimus pulled the datacrystal from the drive, aborting playback, and shuttered his optics, leaning back in the chair. He blindly held the datacrystal out in Jazz’s direction and felt it plucked from his grip.

“Did you watch the whole thing?”

There was a moment of silence before Jazz responded. “Yes. Not that bad, actually. Some of the surveillance video that comes out of the Nemesis….” He trailed off. Optimus knew of at least some of the interrogation footage that had been retrieved in the past. “….it could have been worse.”

Optimus rubbed his facial plates tiredly. “There’s nothing we can do,” he said quietly, echoing their last conversation. “And you were lucky that Starscream’s ego outweighs his common sense. Otherwise you and the others might not be here.” Optimus swiveled in his chair to face Jazz, dropping his hands to fold his arms seriously on the desk. “I did not authorize that mission.”

“And I’m guessin’ that Prowl and Red didn’t authorize you contactin’ Megatron from here,” Jazz said coolly.

Optimus felt his optic ridges raise. How did…. “Starscream.”

“Mentioned it, yeah.”

“I see.” The Commander of the Autobot forces studied his head of Special Operations in silence.

After a long, long moment, Jazz sighed and dropped his gaze, rubbing his forehead above his battlevisor. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna mention it to Red or Prowler. Prowl would just frown and spend even more time locked in his office going over defense tactics, and Red would….”

“Red Alert would glitch,” Optimus said evenly, standing and pacing to stand before the window, arms clasped behind his back, looking out of the Ark onto the area they had set aside as a sparring ground, watching his team – his _soldiers_ – practice.

“Which ain’t gonna do anyone any good,” Jazz finished, shoving off the desk to stand next to the Prime. “He’s got enough problems since….” He trailed off. By habit, no one mentioned the Negavator incident around the Ark.

At least, not where Red’s cameras might, possibly, pick it up.

Optimus made a sound of agreement, watching as Sunstreaker and Ironhide sparred. From the group of bystanders awaiting their turns, Sideswipe looked down, and crouched to pick up something from the ground.

“….How well encrypted is that line?” Jazz asked, watching as Sideswipe took careful aim, then suddenly hurled his handful of mud so it splattered on the back of his vain twin’s helm.

“Well enough,” Optimus replied. “And that will be the end of the subject.” His tone was final.

Jazz sighed and turned away from the window as Sunstreaker stood, stunned, for a moment, before dropping his practice weapon and hurling himself at Sideswipe with a snarl of rage. The shouts of alarm, excitement, and flurry of bets as the rest of the Autobots scattered, leaving Sideswipe to his enraged twin’s tackle, could almost be heard inside Prime’s sound-proofed office.

“I better go help ‘Hide break that up,” Jazz said, heading for the door to Optimus’ nod of agreement.

He stopped in the open doorway for a moment, glancing back at his Prime, still standing thoughtfully at the window, wondering what was going through his helm, before shutting the door and leaving him to his thoughts.


	9. Author's Note

So I know some of you have been wondering when I'll be continuing this.

To be completely honest, I've been suffering from major writer's block lately - and between that and last year having had a flash drive with two chapters of this fic being destroyed - well, it's been hard for me to continue this.

~~However - I do have news!~~

~~I am planning on revising and rewriting this fic. I believe this will give me the oomph to actually finish - and a rewrite will also bring the fic more in line with my current writing style, as it has changed a bit since I wrote the first chapter of Capture. This was my first piece of Transformers and robot fanfic, after all, and I have better headcanon and experience writing it now.~~

~~That said - the next month or so will be busy for me so it won't be soon. But I did want to give fans a heads up.  ^.^~~

**Update 7/6/2015:** It's hard for me to say this - I'll be honest, I've been avoiding it. But... this fic has been permanently discontinued. I don't have the inspiration or time for it as I would like, as I have been focusing primarily on original novel writings, and that is where my inspiration and time has been going. Thank you for reading while I did update it, I adore you all  <3


End file.
